History of a Royal Knight
by RockBane
Summary: What if Beelzemon disrupted Guilmon and Takato's first Bio Merge? What if everyone thought they were deleted? What if the Monster Makers created Yggdrasil in hopes of Stabilizing the Digital World? Follow Takato as he returns home & rejoins the Tamers!
1. Chapter 1

**History of a Royal Knight**

I don't own Digimon

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Thoughts_

"Talking"

-/-/- Scene change

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Chapter 1

He watches as Azulongmon hovers in place, mediating over the news he brought from his meeting with the other Royal Knights. The war going on against the D-Reaper had oddly enough, became a stalemate since the humans managed to send in Yggdrasil and that program in turn began to help stabilize the Digital world by creating three different worlds for the Digimon to inhabit and gathered a number of Digimon to form the order of the Royal Knights under the leadership of Alphamon, a Digimon that contains a line of code that allows the mega knight to survive physical encounters with the red globe that makes up the D-Reaper.

At the time when Yggdrasil arrived in the Digital world, he had been searching for a way to help out, even if at the time he didn't remember much about his past and for some reason, he didn't trust the Sovereigns. So when Yggdrasil was looking for member to join his order, he was more then a little eager to sign up. At the time, the order was being lead by Imperialdramon Fighter mode, who had fallen in the battle covering the retreat of a herd of Jagamon to the forest plane that Yggdrasil constructed, complete with a village of rebirth where fallen Digimon data gets reformatted, well, the lines of data that the D-Reaper hadn't managed to delete at any rate.

He blinks as he notices a screen opens before the great dragon Sovereign, he's startled to see a human face before the computer. At the arrival of the com screen, Azulongmon comes out of his meditative state. He can't believe that they managed to set up a link to the real world, he thought it impossible since Yggdrasil can't seem to contact his creators that such a link can no longer be established.

"Shibumi, it's been a while since I've seen you. How are you, my friend?" Azulongmon says which causes him to glance at the dragon, more then a little surprised at how calmly the fellow mega Digimon seems to be about this event. _But then, it's about time we finally get some help on this side, though I wonder what's happening on their end of their battle._ He wonders as he watches the two exchange pleasantries.

As he begins to head out of the chamber, Azulongmon calls out to him. "Gallantmon, would you mind remaining a few moments more?" He looks back and then replies, "If you have need of my services, then I shall gladly remain." Azulongmon nods slightly before refocusing on the com link window.

"We haven't had much time to monitor the effects of the Yggdrasil program that we launched four years ago. Has it helped any on your end?" Shibumi asks, someone on his end mentioned a time limit, though it's too muffled for him to hear it clearly.

He frowns behind his helmet, he has a sinking feeling that the fight on their end wasn't working out too well. His heart goes out to the Tamers that must be having a hard time battling the D-Reaper since they're few in number. He also knows that they only have one mega on their side, Beelzemon, though he's still confused how that happened.

"Yggdrasil has become a valued ally and has managed to stabilize much of what remains of our world as well as providing us three safe planes. He as also founded an order of Digimon knights called the Royal Knight, of which Gallantmon is a member of." Azulongmon says, he blushes slightly at the praise that Azulongmon is giving him and to the one he's come to call his lord.

The screen moves slightly, causing him to jerk slightly since he hadn't expected that to happen. He can't help but notice how old looking Shibumi is. He nods, glad that he's covering his chest with his arms, hiding the symbol on his white breast plate. He doesn't want to cause any unnecessary harm with that symbol on his breast plate.

He lets go of the breath that he was unknowingly holding. "A noble looking knight if I say so." Shibumi says and he sighs, though blushing a bit at the praise that he received from Shibumi.

"Any way, we need your help…" Shibumi begins and he leans slightly forward, more then a little interested in what kind of trouble they're in.

-/-/-

"Are you sure this is safe?" Magnamon asks, out of the thirteen Royal Knights, the golden armour Digimon was not just the only non-mega of the Knights but also the youngest. "Of course this is safe, Magnamon, Digimon have traveled to the Real world before you know." Duftmon replies, ignoring the dirty look the golden armour Digimon sent his way.

"But that was before the D-Reaper existed in the two primary planes, the Digital one and the Real one." Magnamon points out. "The Tamers and their partners made it back in one piece." Duftmon counters and before the two can launch into another argument, Alforce V-dramon pipes in, "They've settled on sending Dobermon and they've made contact with the ark, so if anything goes wrong, the ark should be able to merge with the ship and finish the journey through to the Real world."

"Good to know that there's a safe guard in place." He admits as he moves to stand on the ramp leading into the ship. Within minutes Dobermon arrives with Alphamon as his escort. He smiles on seeing the black knight Digimon that took over leadership of the Royal Knights from him when he was the third Digimon to fill that position, when Omnimon, the second leader, was thought to be dead.

He can still recall when Alphamon had been a rookie called Dorumon, a purple furred beast dragon and still considers the mega to be a younger brother. Dorumon appeared about two weeks after Imperialdramon FM had been deleted and Omnimon had been chosen to take over as commander of the order that Yggdrasil founded. There's plenty of rumours going around that Dorumon was Imperialdramon reformatted or some mad experiment that Yggdrasil had created, that he's not a real Digimon. But those rumours kind of died off once Dorumon managed to warp Digivolve into Alphamon to defend those injured Digimon at the make shift hospital that was pretty close to the front line.

As Dobermon and Alphamon approach the knights back away, though Druftmon and Magnamon were glaring at each other. He shakes his head slightly, feeling sorry for Alforce V-dramon for having to put up with those two on his own. He looks away from the threesome, kind of missing the chance to say good bye to the rest of the Royal Knights.

As Dobermon walks pass him, he claps arms with Alphamon. "Good bye, bro. I'm going to miss you." Alphamon says softly. "I'll miss you too, little bro. Hopefully we'll be back by the end of the month." He says as they shake. "Maybe, maybe not since this is the D-Reaper that we're dealing with after all, you won't be dealing with it on this plane where Yggdrasil is always finding ways of counteracting its deletion touch. Even if they did manage to free its 'brain,' it's still ruling large parts of the Real world." Alphamon says softly.

He sighs but nods in agreement with what Alphamon is trying to say. "Well, the sooner we get there, the sooner we get to deal with the problem." He says and within moments they've unclamp their arms and he's heading up the ramp with Alphamon stepping off of the ramp. He closes the ramp, already missing his little brother and those Digimon he's become to consider close friends and comrades.

"I hadn't known you two were that close." Dobermon says once he's on what's considered the bridge of the ship. "I can still recall when he was just a rookie, you know? Sure it's been about three years since he warped Digivolved, but it doesn't really matter if he's a champion, ultimate, or even a mega, I'll forever imagine him to be that little rookie that loved his cup cakes." He admits and Dobermon nods in agreement.

"Yes, it's hard to imagine them to be anything other then a rookie, let alone as an adult Digimon. It's sad to be a rookie now a days, sure Digimon would fight and load each other's data but they at least had some kind of fighting chance. Just one touch from a glob of D-Reaper and then … instant deletion." Dobermon says and he nods, he's seen that happen a lot during the beginning of this whole mess.

The ship jerks as it enters into the upper layers of the Digital world. He studies what's going on outside of the ship viva the window screen. It's about now that they're encountering friction as they attempt to enter into the Digital world. He notices the image of a cream coloured and mellow yellow ship that's likely the ark that took the Tamers back to the Real world.

He's not the only one to shudder on seeing the towering red mass been a landmark for the last four years, it's the link that connect the Real world D-Reaper operations to the Digital world operations. He recalls what Shibumi had told Azulongmon, how the Real world D-Reaper seems to have quiet down and seems to pulling out of certain areas of the Real world, which signals that the D-Reaper's altering its strategy, likely for the worst.

To their relief, they only had a rough time breaking through the barriers between the two worlds. They sigh about the same time as the image alters to reveal a park, a familiar park though he can't help but notice the area affected by the D-Reaper.

"Can't they hurry up already? It's not like we have all the time in the world here." He hears someone say. He notices that already Dobermon had headed down to the ramp and he follows, frowning slightly as he tries to place where he's hear that voice before.

He walks down the ramp and as he clears the top, allowing him to glance about him, he pauses when he notices a red head teen standing next to a yellow fox Digimon known as Renamon. _Rika…_ He thinks as he observes the Tamer.

He recovers and walks all the way down the ramp; the ship was programmed to return to the Digital world once nobody's onboard. He notices that the pair give him the once over before turning around. Rika sticks her hands into her pocket jeans, already walking away. "Come on already, oh and by the way, I'm Rika and this is Renamon, my partner." Rika says and he follows the ill tempered teen and the silent rookie, he hears Dobermon following close on his heels.

Funny that he, a mega level Digimon, a battle harden warrior under the command of Yggdrasil could feel nervous just by being in Rika's presence. _I just know this is going to be a long mission. Oh well, it's not like this changes anything._ He tells himself as they walk towards an armed escort, he notices the nervous looks thrown towards Dobermon and himself.

Though it's been years since a Digimon has Bio Emerged to cause havoc, it seems that they're still distrustful of Digimon. Unlike Dobermon, he's ride was a dump truck. He's slightly amused about that but then knew that he's too large to fit inside of the van that Rika and Renamon had entered. He's just glad that they didn't close the doors, which means they might be expecting an attack.

-/-/-

"Rika?" Renamon asks her, they're currently on the roof of the Dojo. "I'm ok, Renamon, I just thinking about what happened to him is all. Seeing that knight Digimon with Guilmon's symbol on his chest… it kind of brought it all up again, you know?" She says to her partner without taking her eyes off of the night sky.

"It's hard to think that just when we thought we had Dino boy back to normal that we'd lose both of them as that light engulfed them. Beelzemon's attack disrupted them, I can still recall how Takato cried out in pain and how it just vanished a second later… Sorry, I'm just rambling again." She says softly.

"We lost three good friends that day; it was hard on all of us and I highly doubt that Impmon will ever forgive himself for what he did that day. Though you have to admit, seeing Beelzemon attempt to taken on Zhuqiamon had been slightly heart warming." Renamon says and she smiles slightly, remembering how arrogant Beelzemon had been when he thought he could take on the Sovereign Digimon that sent out the Devas. It had only been luck that Terriermon's skill at insulting the mega, telling him that Zhuqiamon was the Digimon more powerful then him that saved them from sharing Leomon, Guilmon, and Takato's fate.

It was later did they find Impmon had become a highly disillusioned rookie that seemed to be highly suicidal and in the end, it the thought of being there for Ai and Mako that caused Impmon to continue on living, especially when they found out that the D-Reaper's brain was Jeri who was depressed over not just the lost of Leomon but also feeling guilty over the last words she said to Takato was that he was a monster, words that while true at the time, will never likely to ever taken back. There wasn't a Takato around for Jeri to ask forgiveness from.

The hardest time of their lives was then they had to tell Takato's parents about why their son isn't coming home…

She brushes the tears away with the back of her hand as she remembers how Takato's mom broke down, of how Takato's dad was trying to put on a brave front for his wife when it's clear that he's breaking within.

_They're still around though, even if they sold the store and had opened up in a different district. They still want to be close to their son's friends._ She reflects about how the Tamers and herself, which includes Ryo, often find themselves volunteering at their bakery when ever they can get away from their duties as Tamers.

"I wonder how things would have played out if Takato and Guilmon hadn't been deleted." She muses out loud and Renamon doesn't reply to that since they both know that it doesn't really matter since they had been and they're still living with the fall out of what happened.

-/-/-

He sits cross legged as he attempts to mediate in order to find some peace of mind in the mist of his tormented and guilt ridden feelings. He can't help but feel more then a little responsible for what the Tamers and his parents were going through since the day he was 'deleted' by Beelzemon. In the end, Guilmon was the one that was likely deleted that day since he's alone within this body, without hearing Guilmon's child like voice asking naïve questions or calling him Takatomon.

_At the beginning, it was easier since I hadn't known my past; I was just Gallantmon, a mega level knight Digimon wandering around, looking to aid in the fight against the D-Reaper. Then about the time Omnimon was thought deleted and I then found myself in the role of leader did the emptiness within me began giving up bits and pieces of my past, I was so glad when Yggdrasil decided to promote Alphamon as the leader of the Royal Knights as it gave me time to worry about the odd images of me living a life that was clearly not a life a Digimon would lead._ He muses to himself, smiling slightly as he remembers just how confused and slightly horrified when he finally figured out that in those memories he had been a human named Gogglehead, the bits at that time didn't often include dialog so when a memory of Rika calling him Gogglehead showed up, he thought that was his name for the longest time.

He chuckles as he recalls that, about four months after he glimpsed that memory did his memories return in full, it was during the time he had been in a mild coma after getting stumped on by an experimental agent of the D-Reaper. He sighs and opens his eyes, knowing that he won't be able to clear his mind now. He glances at the clock and then out of the window, looking out onto the city from the highest floor of the building.

They hadn't have much time to modify the top floor that was to house someone of his size, they even had to use a helicopter to get him to this floor, they had to remove the glass so he can fit through. Then they began on the ceiling, removing what they can so he didn't have to crawl around the room. He knows that they're going to a lot of trouble to accommodate him and if he knew how to grow smaller, he would have done it in a heart beat if only to stop them from dividing their time making the floor the right size so he can move about.

He looks away from the window as the door opens and in steps Henry and Terriermon. He hadn't seen much of the Tamers yesterday other then Rika and Renamon, so he studies the changes that these two had undergone. Much like Rika, Henry moves like an experienced fighter and his eyes told tales of hardship and one too many defeats.

"I'm Henry Wong and this is Terriermon." Where in Terriermon says, "Hey." Henry continues, "And we're here to ask you questions concerning Yggdrasil." He nods and motions for Henry to take a seat.

"Where do you wish to start?" He asks and Terriermon pipes in, "How about telling us what kind of polish you use on your armour?" "Terriermon…." Henry says and Terriermon just grins and replies in his typical fashion, "Momentai, Henry, Momentai!"

He couldn't help himself, he chuckled at that.


	2. Chapter 2

**History of a Royal Knight**

I don't own Digimon

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Thoughts_

"Talking"

-/-/- Scene change

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Chapter 2

They say bye to the Royal Knight with the Guilmon shaped helmet rim with the symbol of the Hazard on his breast plate and knee guards. He was more then glad that Gallantmon didn't seem offended about any of the questions Terriermon had asked or became insulted when Terriermon poked fun at him. All in all, Gallantmon seems to be an easy going Digimon, maybe not as easy going as Calumon or the late Guilmon, but then Gallantmon was a mega and therefore was much more mature in his attitude.

"You know, I like him. He knows how to take a joke." Terriermon says once they reach the elevator. He presses the down button and sighs. "Still, you shouldn't try and provoke him, he is here to help us and he's the only one out of the two that has a long time association with Yggdrasil. Plus he's a mega level Digimon, which means we now have two mega level Digimon helping out then the one we had to depend on for so long." He says and Terriermon replies, "Momentai, Henry! You really got to lighten up, you've been way too serious these pass weeks you know. Loosen up already; enjoy your free time while you have it. It'll be over before you know it."

He walks into the elevator with Terriermon still perched on his shoulder. He presses the button to go to the lab portion of the building since he has to report the information they received from Gallantmon. Though that doesn't stop his mind from reviewing the meeting they just had, he couldn't help but think there's something familiar in Gallantmon's voice.

_It's probably nothing, just looking for ghosts that aren't there. Hoping that Gallantmon could be connected to…_ He tells himself, though he can't help but wonder why Gallantmon has the symbol of the Hazard on his chest, they've only recalled one Digimon that wore that symbol and they all know that he's gone.

_Maybe the data was reformatted into a Digi-egg; after all, Beelzemon didn't load Guilmon and Takato's data. That's more then likely, after all, it stands to reason that when Calumon released his light that the Digi-egg then not just hatched but the Digimon warped all the way to his mega form. Which makes me wonder, if Guilmon had Digivolved correctly, would he have become Gallantmon as his final evolution? Likely if that egg was suppose to hatch into a Guilmon._ He thinks and satisfied about his conclusion, he turns his mind to other problems, like what caused the D-Reaper to retract itself from different spots within the Real world and if it has anything to do with the Yggdrasil program that's within the Digital world.

-/-/-

_Times like these, I wish I could fly._ He muses sourly to himself as he races towards the front line that the D-Reaper is attacking, Beelzemon Blaster mode flying over head. It hadn't much of a problem in the Digital world, the laws of gravity only worked when you thought they should, otherwise, you can remain hovering in the sky for as long as you want to.

This was the fifth time that the D-Reaper has launched an attack on the city, he can't help but notice the shape the agents were taking, making him wonder if the D-Reaper had either located another 'brain' or had finally created its own brain based on its experiences with Jeri. Either way, it didn't matter as now isn't the best time to muse about it since it's time for battle.

"Lightning Joust!" He roars as he encounters his first agent. The lightning encasing his lance dances over the shiny surface of his lance. He got the agent in the stomach and he moves the lance to his right, slicing the agent's side as he does so.

The agent transforms into some blobs of red mass before that too fades before it hits the ground, not that he stops to watch as he's already targeting the second agent, it was much larger then his first target but he simply slices one of its legs off and then stabs the head, killing it. He glances around before continuing on traveling closer to the site of the main battle.

He finds Cyberdramon, Andromon, and Beelzemon BM already engaging the enemy. He doesn't glance around to get a glimpse of Kazu and Ryo, knowing that he can do so once they've driven the agents back. "Lightning Joust!" He cries out as he launches himself at the largest agent, one that Cyberdramon was losing to.

Cyberdramon nods slightly for the help before launching himself at another agent. He scans the battle field and noticed some blaster agents approaching from behind a building. He takes off to deal with them, he hears Kazu and Ryo shout out greetings to the other Tamers as he turns the corner, he tries to evade most of the laser blasts coming towards him, he uses his shield to also block some of them.

He notices the cables attached to them and goes for them instead of the agents themselves. Once he's sure there isn't another swarm of blaster agents, he rejoins the fight, noticing off hand that the Tamers were slashing Digi modify cards through their D-Arks. He comes to the aid of Andromon before moving on to help Beelzemon BM as the other mega begins to revert to his typical Beelzemon appearance.

About an hour passes and the D-Reaper's agents no longer appear. He glances around him, taking note of the changes that have occurred with Kenta, Suzie, and also spots Impmon's Tamers, Ai and Mako who were currently by Impmon's side. Most of the Tamers were at their partner's sides, already surveying their partners for damages.

He looks to where the D-Reaper is stationed, frowning under his helmet. He knows that the D-Reaper was recording how they attack and adapting that knowledge, even if they don't see any evidence that it was doing so. It's just a feeling in his gut that's tells him this and he trusts that feeling since it's proven right before and will likely save him in the up coming battles as well.

He turns away as the Tamers begin to head back to head quarters, he walks behind them so if an ambush appears from behind, he'll be the first to deal with it. Though his mind wasn't on the D-Reaper, it was full of concern and self-guilt for those he once called friends, those who he had betrayed by allowing his anger to get the better of him so long ago.

_I'll find a way to make up for my mistake, I promise on my honour as a Royal Knight._ He furiously vows to himself as he continues to walk behind the group, keeping his pace slow so he doesn't overtake the group. His mind working feverishly as he tries to tackle the problem of how to make it up to the group.

_If only I knew how I became a mega, I'm sure that would not only make up for my mistake but also allow them to deal with this without having me around to remind them of their lost. After all, there's only been one Digimon that has ever worn the Hazard symbol and looking at helmet, my knee guards, and breast plate as they keep reminding them of Guilmon._ He thinks, he's noticed the looks that Rika and Henry have whenever they glance at him. He hasn't seen the other Tamers until now, so they haven't had a good look at what he's wearing and have them recall where they've seen such things before.

-/-/-

He hears someone call out, "Guilmon… come out where ever you are!" He opens his eyes lazily and then turns his head in the direction of the voice. He's not that surprise to see Calumon floating around his room, it kind of surprised him to see the little guy after so long but then, he can't help but wonder just why he's here in the first place since it's clear that Guilmon wasn't here.

_I didn't know what goes through his mind back then, so why should I know what's going on in there now?_ He wonders to himself as he watches the in training Digimon with sad looking eyes as he hears Calumon calls out to Guilmon again. Something stirs within him and he decides it's pity.

"I don't think you'll find your friend here, young one. I'm the only one here." He says before he sits up, he doesn't bother turning on the light since the windows allow plenty of light for him to see what's around him.

Calumon turns to face him and then cutely cocks his head to the side, looking at him with expressive emerald eyes. Calumon floats towards him, perching on one of his knees, looking up at his face, as if searching for something. "How come you got Guilmon's face on your helmet?" Calumon asks after a moment as his ears shrink.

His right hand goes to the rim of his helmet, he sighs. "It was there when I woke up one day; it's been there since then." He replies carefully, he's kind of telling Calumon the truth since when he had woken up with amnesia as Gallantmon, it had been there and remains there to this very day and will likely always be there.

"You're sad." Calumon states and he sighs once more. "I miss my friends." He says and what he said was true, he does miss Alphamon and the other knights that he's been fighting along side of for the last four to three years. And in his heart, he yearns to hear Guilmon's voice, to hear his partner ask embarrassing questions, or just to watch as Guilmon scuffs down tons of loaves of bread and plenty of jars of peanut butter.

For another few minutes, Calumon studies him before the white Digimon cheers up and asks, "So, since Guilmon's not here, do you want to play with me?" He blinks and then after a few minutes of debate, he decides to say, "What do you want to play?"

Calumon's hears grow large and he suddenly has this odd feeling that he's going to regret agreeing to this, though a part within him seems to excited about this. He watches as Calumon launches himself into the air giggling about something.

-/-/-

They arrived earlier to their current head quarters; she pauses as they hear Calumon giggling about something in the kitchen. She sighs and wonder which person Calumon managed to dup into playing with him now. "We might as well see what the cream puff is up to." She says to her partner and Renamon nods in agreement.

"Remember, it's not enough flour until we're covered up like ghosts!" Calumon says and she pauses as she hears the familiar voice of Gallantmon say calmly, "I don't think there's enough flour to cover all of me and still make the cream puffs, Calumon."

She exchanges looks with Renamon before she pushes the door to the kitchen open. "You think so?" Calumon asks innocently as Renamon and her stumbling upon a highly funny scene playing out within the kitchen. "I believe so." Gallantmon says in a soft but firm voice.

Before them were Calumon hovering by the counter top covered in flour with Gallantmon on all fours stirring a bowl of batter. The knight Digimon had most likely been conned into doing this by Calumon, she can still remember how Calumon talked Yamaki into trying to make cream puffs for Riley that one Valentine's Day. She leans on the wall close to the door, highly amused by what's happening within the kitchen between Calumon and the mega level knight.

Gallantmon was the first to notice them and sighs, Calumon turns to see what Gallantmon's looking at and races through the air to greet them. "Hi ya Rika, Renamon! You guys want to help us make cream puffs? Do ya, do ya?" Calumon asks energetically, his bright emerald eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Maybe some other time, Calumon, just not right now." She tells Calumon and the little guy shrugs before returning to 'help' Gallantmon make cream puffs. She can't help the smile that made its way onto her face as she observes the two Digimon attempting to make a batch of cream puffs.

It wasn't long before two trays were put into the large oven, she had expected the oven to explode within five minutes, but was more then a little impressed that it hadn't. It looked like Gallantmon had managed to bake something despite Calumon's instructions and helpful hints. Though she can't help but be highly amused at how messy Gallantmon's armour is, she can't help but wonder what happened to his cape but decides that it's probably for the best that he's not wearing it or it would have gotten caught on things.

In the end, she decides to rescue the mega Digimon by suggesting that he takes Calumon and go clean up. The knight Digimon nods in agreement and manages to get out through the loading dock with Calumon trailing after him. She shakes her head slightly, wondering how Gallantmon had managed to get all the way to the street when his rooms are on the top floor.

She lets the oven bake the trays instead of turning them off and throwing them out, since it's more then likely those buns will be disgusting or undercooked. As they wait, they begin to get the kitchen cleaned up. Soon the timer goes off and they take the trays out, other then the odd shape, they smelt fairly good.

Once they've cooled, she picks one and bites into it. Her eyes widen and she finishes chewing the bite within her mouth before taking another bite. "Try one; they're not bad considering Calumon helped make them." She manages to say before she takes another bite out of her bun.

Renamon picks one out and takes a tiny bite, she grins at the surprised look on Renamon's face on tasting the bun. "You're right, it's not that bad. I wonder if Gallantmon has a natural talent for cooking or something." Her partner wonders before taking another bite out of her bun, she hums in agreement as she muses about the mega knight Digimon that reminds them of Guilmon with his helmet and the Hazard symbols he wears.

It's not long before Calumon manages to escape from Gallantmon before the mega could dry him. He settles by the plate of cream puffs and picks one up. As Calumon's eating his second bun, Henry arrives in the kitchen with Terriermon hanging off his shoulder.

"Huuuummmm, that smells so good." Terriermon says and then launches himself off of his partner's shoulder and stands next to Calumon. She waits until Terriermon has bitten into one before saying, "Calumon and Gallantmon made them."

Terriermon looks horrified and swallows the bite without chewing it. The green rookie panics for a few seconds before Terriermon realises it's not poison nor is there a lingering bad taste in his mouth. "Hey! You did that on purpose, and I bet that you made them too." The vaccine rookie says only to have Renamon counter, "It's true, we found Gallantmon and Calumon in the kitchen. Gallantmon was crawling on the floors on all fours, following Calumon's instructions. We sent them to get cleaned up as we waited for the trays to either explode or cook."

Henry picks up one of the buns and takes a bite. Henry nods thoughtfully after he swallows his bite. "Not bad considering they were following Calumon's instructions and the fact that Gallantmon was too large to be in the kitchen." Henry says, though Calumon gives a shout of 'Hey!' at being mentioned.

"Though I can't help but wonder, why was Calumon bugging Gallantmon?" Terriermon wonders and Calumon pauses, looking thoughtful about something. "I thought Guilmon was here." Calumon says before adding in a thoughtful tone, "But he's not fully here yet."

They all exchange looks, she's not sure just what Calumon was talking about but it seems to be that Calumon thinks that Guilmon wasn't gone. "And you found Gallantmon where you thought Guilmon should be?" She asks in a neutral tone and Calumon nods. "Yea, only right now, Gallantmon reminds me of Takato!" Calumon says happily.

"Gee, I wonder if Gallantmon's the child of Takato and Guilmon." Terriermon says sarcastically and Calumon looks over to the rookie, says, "I didn't know Guilmon's a dad! I got to go ask if Gallantmon knows that!" They watch as Calumon forgets about the pile of cream puffs as the in training Digimon was zooming away, likely going to just that.

"Oh well, more for me!" Terriermon declares and grabs another bun using his left hand and takes a bite out of the one in his right hand. "Glutton." Henry says and Terriermon tries to say with his mouth full, "Momentai!"

-/-/-

He had been trying to take a short nap when Dobermon appears from around the corner; he straightens up before sitting up. He nods to the champion level Digimon which the dog vaccine returns. Dobermon glances around before lying down.

"Nice spot you've found." Dobermon says and he nods, he says, "I thought it's about time I explore around seeing as I grew bored confined to my rooms." Dobermon chuckles on hearing that. "I'm surprise if took you so long to escape considering we've been here for three weeks already." The Sovereign Digimon representative says.

"I found myself helping the ex-Catalyst make some cream puffs this morning and since I didn't feel like climbing up the side of the building…" He lets his sentence hang in the air between them. "I wonder how those turned out." Dobermon muses and he shrugs. "I see you've not yet had your breakfast, huh?" He says and Dobermon chuckles.

"Guilty as charged." Dobermon admits heartily. They remain quiet for a while as they watch from their position as people begin to stir and head off to work and such. They were on a wide ledge of an apartment building, which somewhat hid them from view.

"I'm curious about something, Dobermon. I hope you're not offended by my inquiry, but I can't help but wonder why Azulongmon would send a champion instead of an ultimate or mega when it's clear that the Tamers need more manpower." He says and Dobermon looks thoughtful as the dog champion Digimon gazes off into space.

"You are correct, most of the Sovereigns wanted to send either two ultimates or at the very least, a mega on this errand, but Azulongmon was very adamant that I was the right Digimon to go. All I can say is that Azulongmon sent a gift along with me and when the D-Reaper shows its true intensions, that is when I'm allowed to present this gift to the Tamers, even if it means scarifying myself in the giving." Dobermon says softly and he nods, he knows that if Azulongmon wanted it to be kept secret, then he shall respect the Sovereign's wishes in this.

"We might as well head back; they might be looking for us." He says and Dobermon nods. But just as they're about to leap off the ledge, Dobermon asks, "You know, I don't think I've hear you eat a meal in all of the time we've been here. If you don't eat, where do you get your energy?"

He sighs as his head goes down to his chest. "It's complicated, all I can really say is that the food Yggdrasil provides us tends to see us through a grand total of six to eight months, which is why we don't need to carry around food on missions." He answers and Dobermon rises an imaginary eyebrow at that.


	3. Chapter 3

**History of a Royal Knight**

I don't own Digimon

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Thoughts_

"Talking"

-/-/- Scene change

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Chapter 3

Four days since his meeting Calumon again and he finds that the little guy seems to be sticking by his side like glue. Which slightly puzzles him but overall, he doesn't mind having the white Digimon around, for Calumon makes him feel complete for some odd reason. He never gave it much thought since there are other things to worry about, like the fact that the D-Reaper occupying that's currently holding part of the city that has the Hypnos towers seems to have alter colours, it's not instead of red with black stripes, totally neon green with patches of bright red.

It doesn't help that more parties of non-cable agents were swarming around the edges of the massive blob in about thirty foot radius. Why they were there, they didn't know and he personally doubts that they'll figure it out until the D-Reaper makes its next move. Though the Tamers and himself have taken to harassing these agents since yesterday morning and had continue in rounds through out yesterday and last night, they only stopped when the Monster Makers wanted to meet with them to discuss possible courses of actions that the D-Reaper was likely to take.

Which kind of meant that they talked over possible scenarios and what they could do to counter or nullify them, although it gave him a lot to think about, he doubts that they could possible predict what's going through the D-Reaper's mind. After all, whatever is causing this new rapid growth spurt seems to be powerful enough to make most of the agents independent of the D-Reaper. He wouldn't mind a chance to chat with Yggdrasil about this but then; they haven't been able to re-establish a link to the Digital world as the D-Reaper within the Digital world was beginning to be affected by what the real World D-Reaper is doing here.

He frowns behind his helmet as he thinks about Yggdrasil and wonders if what the D-Reaper had learned from dealing with that program is finally being applied, but not in the Digital world but here, in the real world. And if that's what's happening, then what the D-Reaper might be doing the same in the Digital world. _But why do it now? Why not during the first year or even second year of terror?_ He wonders to himself, not listening to the discussion coming from the monitor in his room.

He groans mentally, there's a reason why he prefers to make split second decisions then to discus strategy. _My imagination keeps me up at night, thinking of what could have been or what ifs. I'm a worrywart, plain and simple, that's why I was so relieved to let the others attend those strategy meeting, volunteering to take someone's patrol duty just to get out of it. Not that it worked for very long, though I can still manage to skip about three a year now._ He muses to himself with a slight grin on his face, not that anyone could see his facial expressions.

It's not long after that does Kenta and Kazu call a halt to the meeting so they could think about what was said as they eat the snacks brought in for them to eat. He blinks as he hears someone snoring softly and looks down to find Calumon sleeping on his cape, wrapped up in said cape as well from the looks of things. A small smile appears behind his helmet as he studies the little in training Digimon.

He glances at the snacks that were brought up for them to eat and finds that most of them had been consumed by Calumon, he notices that instead of tea, cola, or juice, the drink had been milk, which likely explains why Calumon's fast asleep. With his index finger, he brushes some crumbs off of Calumon's chin. He glances at the monitor and then out of the window.

He watches as some pigeons fly pass his window, likely heading up to the roof. He hears a throaty cough and looks towards his monitor to find Kazu before it. "I'm not sure if anyone's introduced me yet, but I'm Kazu, Guadromon's Tamer. Also, the guy with the glasses with the MarineAngemon is Kenta. And I'm sure you know Ryo, the Legendary Tamer, who's taken me under his wing." Kazu says and he hears Kenta in the back ground say, "You wish he did, you know it's Suzie that gets those lessons."

"Kenta!" Kazu says and it's not long before those two are bringing up embarrassing moments and have started a round of name calling, like 'chicken legs,' 'patches,' and for some bizarre reason Kenta called Kazu 'rock fish' at which Kazu would go bright red at. Once Kazu has Kenta in a headlock, the visor wearing Tamer continues, "Any way, I was thinking that maybe you would like a tour around the city, you know, to help you get the feel of the land and all."

He thinks about it for a few seconds, going through the pros and cons of spending a large amount of time with the two Tamers that still act like he remembered them acting like before he found himself as a mega level Digimon called Gallantmon. Before he could decline their offer, Dobermon pipes in, "We'll be glad to have you two find gentlemen give us a tour of this fine city."

To his amusement, the two teens jump back in surprise and glance at Dobermon who's standing behind them. "Don't do that!" Kazu shouts, causing Dobermon and himself to grin slightly at that. "Do what?" Dobermon asks the pair and the two teens doesn't know what to say to that.

"You know, that sounds like a great idea. Count me in too." Ryo says off screen. On hearing Ryo's voice the two teens that were old childhood friends say, "Right on! We got Ryo!" They even leaped into each other's arms and hugged as they jumped up and down in excitement.

They repeated their chant for a few more minutes until Rika got annoyed at them and threaten them both with smacks upside the head. They quieted down at that and it's not long before the meeting starts up once more. He wonders just what Kazu and Kenta have planned for this trip as people go back to their seats before the discussion begins once more.

-/-/-

"Tell me again why we're trailing along with them?" The red head Tamer asks her partner for the fourth time within the last hour as the pair trails behind the group containing one mega level knight Digimon, a Digital doggy, two dunderheads, Mr Perfect, and their Digimon partners. "We're doing this because Calumon asked us to while he stays with Jeri for the day." Her partner informs her and she quiets down once more.

She knows how important Calumon has become to Jeri and for the last few days, Calumon's been glued to Gallantmon's side instead of Jeri's. Not that they blamed the little guy since Gallantmon does remind them of Guilmon and to a lesser extent, Takato. Someone who they miss just as much as his red, goofy, fun loving, bread scoffing partner Digimon, she guesses that they all feel various degrees of guilt on not trying to get Takato out of there before that light began to form from the floor and then shoots upwards into the sky.

Once more she can hear Takato's cry as those bullets hit the pillar of light that had encased Guilmon and him. There wasn't any doubt in their minds that if Beelzemon hadn't attacked the pillar of light, they would have encountered Guilmon's true mega form. Her eyes drift to Gallantmon's armoured form and knew that if they had survived, it's likely that they would have a knight similar to Gallantmon on their side instead of just as an ally.

Gallantmon glances behind him; their eyes meet for a few seconds before Gallantmon's gaze turns away, looking down to Kazu, likely listening to whatever twiddle de is saying. She adverts her eyes from the mega Digimon, looking to the shops to her far right. She doesn't know exactly what pipes her interest more in the mega Digimon, that he's a mega Digimon or that he's part of an order that serves the program Yggdrasil.

As they're about to turn around and head back to head quarters, they're ambushed by a swarm of blaster agents. The only warning was when Gallantmon started to shout for them to duck and cover which was followed by a large firework show in and about the area where Gallantmon had been standing. As Renamon body slams her into an alley way, she caught glimpses of Gallantmon already attacking the agents.

"Are you alright?" Her partner asks her, Renamon's voice laced with concern. "I'm fine, but it's time for you to suit up, Renamon." She says and the golden fox Digimon nods and within moments, Taomon joins the battle. She stands at the entrance of the alleyway to watch the battle. She prays that Renamon makes it out of this battle without too many injuries.

-/-/-

His lance pierces through the body of a blaster agent; he pulls it out as quickly as he can to parry a blade aimed for his gut. He bellows out, "Lightning Joust!" as he attempts to slice through the bladed arm of the close combat agent. To his surprise, his attack doesn't do more then crack the blade.

He uses his shield to ram the agent and side steps as the four armed agent tries to press the attack. He stabs his lance into the agent's side, he jerks back as one of the arms tries to slice him in half. He grinds his teeth and leaps back from the agent; it seems that this agent was a heck of a lot tougher then those blaster agents he had been dealing with a few moments ago.

He leaps into the air just as something attempts to catch him from behind. He lands and leaps back once more, so he can assess the situation occurring before him. He notices the spider legged agent that had tried to catch him from behind. Unlike the four armed agent, this one was much smaller and likely highly agile, which will make it just that harder to kill since its small size make it that much harder to target.

_It's time to bring out the big guns._ He thinks to himself as the two agents prepare for a charge. He holds his shield before him, bracing his body from the power back coil that's about to be released from his next attack. "Shield of the Just!" He shouts as the two agents begin their charge.

He braces himself as his shield begins to glow and as the pair get within three feet of his shield, a blinding light shoots from the symbols on his shield. He hears his boots dig into the roof at the back coil of the attack. The light vanishes two seconds after its release and he stands up straight, he feels slightly drained from that attack, but knows he doesn't have much time before he's targeted by agents again.

He notices that there are about four more pairs of the two of the latest agents. He notices that Dobermon's about to be attack from behind and launches himself at the smaller agent that was attempting to come upon the champion from behind. "Lightning Joust!" Rings through the air as his lance slices through the spider limbed agent.

Dobermon then leaps out of the way of the charging four armed agent, whose head he stabs with his weapon. The agent vanishes, leaving him alone with Dobermon for a few seconds. "Thanks for the help." Dobermon says and he nods at the champion dog Digimon.

Without much warning, they both split apart to help the Tamer against the remaining ground agents. He keeps an eye out for air borne agents since they were going to busy enough with these agents that seem like they want to work in pairs. He comes to the rescue of Kazu as one of the spider agents targets the Tamer instead of the partner Digimon.

"Thanks man, I owe you one." Kazu says before shouting out, "Andromon!" He turns to find Andromon being embraced in the thin arms of the spider leg agent. He races to the aid of the ultimate level Digimon as one of the four armed agent attempts to slice off Andromon's head.

He cries out as twin blades enter into his shield arm, cutting deeply into his shield. His lance goes into the agent's gut before the second pair of blades make their way into the side of his chest. The blades vanish as the agent vanishes, Taomon deals with the spider agent as he grabs a hold of his injured arm.

"Don't move too much, Gallantmon, you might cause your injuries to worsen." Taomon says and he smiles weakly behind his helmet. "I'll try." He vows as he allows the priestly ultimate to check his injures.

_Takatomon, look out!_ Goes through his head, he stiffens. He then tackles Taomon in time to keep a bunch of needles from borrowing themselves into Taomon's side. He cries out in pain as he feels the needles burn within him. "Gallantmon!" He hears most of the Tamers and their partners shout.

He smiles weakly, not that they could see it. "Hang on, Gallantmon, helps on the way!" Taomon says as he feels the ultimate's arms pull him up off the ground. "Sorry…" He manages to say before the blackness finally managed to pull him in, he does hear Guilmon's voice say,_Takatomon…_

-/-/-

They managed to delete the agent that had thrown those needles that Gallantmon saved Taomon from at the expense of his welfare. Not even his partner made a corny joke about the situation, which was likely Terriermon's way of respecting the mega knight that saved one of their own from certain deletion since unlike himself, Taomon didn't have much in the way of armour to take the blunt of the attack.

_How could that agent make it so close to us without us knowing that it was there? Too bad we couldn't scan its data to know what kind of virus those needles contained._ Thinks the partner of Terriermon, Henry as they watch as a tow truck slowly pulls the fallen knight onto the back of the truck. They didn't dare try flying Gallantmon back since they didn't want to jar the mega too much especially with injuries as serious as his.

He glances over to where Dobermon is standing, the champion level dog Digimon seems to have a far away look in his eyes as they wait for Gallantmon to be ready for transport. "He saved my life before he helped Guardromon keep his head." Kazu says to Kenta, he glances over to the visor wearing Tamer that's partners with Guardromon and an old childhood friend of Takato, Kenta, and Jeri's.

Kenta comforts his shaken friend with MarineAngemon hovering over Guardromon's unconscious form, likely helping to speed along the machine Digimon recovery. The fact that the pink mega wasn't hovering over Gallantmon's fallen form told them without words that Gallantmon's worst for wear and in a very delicate state, that the pink mega feels that he'd help out better by speeding up Guardromon's recover then Gallantmon's.

"How are we going to explain this to his friends back in the Digital world?" Rika wonders not far from him. "They must have known that they might not see him again, after all, we're at war." Renamon says to try and comfort her partner.

He feels someone rest a hand on his free shoulder and is slightly startled until he glances into the face of his father. He notices that there's more worry lines around his dad's eyes then before and even more grey hairs. "Is he going to be alright, dad?" He asks his scientist father, one of the original Monster Makers.

"He's a unique Digimon from what our readings tell us. He should have de-Digivolve to recover from this, but from what we've found, it's as if he's fighting that progress. As if he won't or maybe can't de-Digivolve." His father tells him. He blinks and Terriermon asks, "What do you mean that he _can't_ de-Digivolve? I mean, from what I've heard, Guardromon de-Digivolved from Andromon when they made contact with the android Digimon. So if he can't, why don't we force him to?"

His father looks towards Gallantmon's armoured form, the hand that had been resting on his shoulder is used to push up his father's glasses. "We're not sure if he'd survive the progress considering how injured he had been before he saved Taomon from those virus needles. All we can do is try and counter the virus that's in him and hope that he allows himself to back a level." His father states before his dad is called away.

"I guess it's up to Gallantmon to help Gallantmon." Terriermon states humourlessly and he nods in agreement with that. "Seems so, seems so." He says, frowning slightly as his thoughts go back to his hypothesis about how Gallantmon came into being. Within his mind, he re-examines his hypothesis, trying to see what other opinions there were as to why Gallantmon couldn't got back a level.

He's snaps out of his thoughts as Terriermon calls out his name. "Huh? What?" He asks, blinking a few times. "I said, we better get into the van before they decide to ditch us, Henry. What did you think I was saying, huh? That Takato's alive in the Digital world and Guilmon is Gallantmon? Shhess." His partner says in a bit of a huff, he blinks as he moves towards the open door to one of the Hypnos vans.

_Nay, it couldn't be, could it?_ He wonders as he closes the van's side door about the part about Guilmon being Gallantmon. But he couldn't help but wonder what Terriermon had jokingly said out of his mind since it could mean that if Guilmon was Gallantmon then it could mean that they both survived, which means that they were never lost to them, just misplaced.


	4. Chapter 4

**History of a Royal Knight**

I don't own Digimon

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Thoughts_

"Talking"

-/-/- Scene change

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Chapter 4

As he wakes up, he finds himself floating in the blackness of space. He finds himself free from pain, which might mean that he's dead or … Well, he can't think up another situation so that means he's got to be dead. This means that he never did fulfill his vow to make it up to his old group of friends, he sighs sadly at that thought.

"I'm sorry… I guess I'll never make it up to them now." He says out loud, feeling self pity and tons of guilt as he says that. "I wonder where Guilmon is, I mean, I died as a Digimon so that means I was sent to the same place as him, right?" He wonders after a few minutes.

He focuses on sitting up and jerks slightly as his whole body moves as he sits up, he's now looking down, not that it's any different then looking up. He straightens up slowly so he doesn't find himself lying back on his back. Once that's done, he glances around the blank space around him, trying to decide which direction to head off in.

In the end, he doesn't see much point since it's likely that it doesn't matter where he is, it's likely that he'd never find anyone in this blackness, or at least nobody friendly as he recalls pass battles with the Devas and Bio Emerged Digimon like IceDevimon and Gorillamon. So he just kind of floated there, occupied with his memories, not really paying any real attention to his surrounds. He felt like such a failure as he begins to think about Alphamon and the other Royal Knights, he feels even more down in the dumps as he realises the kind of sorrow he's death has likely caused them.

As he cries, Takato curls up, resting his head on his knees, hugging his knees as he allows himself to wallow in self pity and guilt. So it wasn't surprising that he never heard the faint cries of 'Takatomon! Where are you, Takatomon?' sound out throughout the black void.

He only snapped out of his depressing thoughts when something nudges him in his shoulder a few times. He blinks and focuses on what's before him. "Guilmon? Guilmon!" He shouts as he throws himself around the rookie's neck, tears already flowing down his cheeks as he hangs onto his partner as if his life depended on it.

"I thought I would never see you again, boy. I've missed you so much…" He tells the red rookie as he buries his face in Guilmon's neck. He rambles on about whatever popped into his head, surprisingly, Guilmon didn't interrupt him as he babbled on and on about things that most likely sounded like non-sense to most people.

A few minutes after he quieted down, Guilmon nudges him in the chest and he lets go of his partner which allows Guilmon's left 'hand' or paw to wipe some of his tears from his face. Guilmon's yellow eyes were studying his face as the virus rookie says softly, "I'm sorry, Takatomon, but I was just so tired after Beelzemon shoot at us that I couldn't help but fall asleep. I was always with you and I always will be, like peanut butter and pickles."

He chuckles at that and he sighs. "I'm overreacting, aren't I?" He asks his partner and Guilmon shrugs. He then asks, "Then why didn't you wake up sooner? I mean, that happened a little over four years ago!" "All I know is I heard Calumon calling for me and I kind of woke up, though I didn't really wake up, does that make sense, Takatomon?" Guilmon asks him and he nods as he answers, "Yea, it does, boy. You always seem to wake up when someone wants to play with you, especially if Calumon was the one that wanted to play. I just wished you'd had woken up sooner is all."

"Me too, cause now I miss out on a lot of playing time with Calumon." Guilmon says and he chuckles at that. "So… where are we? The last thing I remember was hearing your voice and keeping Taomon from getting hit by those needles." He muses and Guilmon shrugs. "Don't know, I woke up in this place and I knew you weren't here until you blacked out." Guilmon says and then adds, "Takatomon, I really want to return to the real world so I can eat and play with Calumon."

"I guess we could, I'm just not sure how we'll manage to separate is all." He says to his partner. "Maybe if we wished really, really hard it'll come true, it worked when we wanted to fight together, right?" Guilmon says and he nods.

He stands up and with a sigh, closes his eyes and tries to concentrate on Guilmon and himself becoming unmerged. He can hear Guilmon chanting softly about how he really wants to be himself so he can do a long list of things, some of the things he'll have to sit down and talk to Guilmon about. But slowly Guilmon's image fades and he begins to find himself in a red energy sphere with lines of code rotating around the sphere.

"Did it work?" He hears Guilmon's voice and he looks around, startled. "I don't think so. Where are you?" He asks and Guilmon replies promptly, "I'm here. I can feel you Takatomon!" It takes him a moment to realise that he can feel Guilmon as well. "You know, this reminds me of the time you first Digivolved into an ultimate when we were fighting the tiger Deva." He muses and Guilmon hums his agreement.

He frowns as he feels Guilmon and his energy being drained and as they both feel it's time to unmerge, a light engulfs them and he vanishes from the sphere within the blackness that he woke to find himself in.

-/-/-

The teenage boy lying on a slab of metal stirs and the goggle wearing teen turns his head to the left and then to the right. His eyes open up slightly and on seeing the red Digimon lying not too far from him, he smiles sleepily before rolling onto his right side and falling asleep on the uncomfortable metal slab, not caring at the moment about the discomfort only that he's tired, both mentally and physically.

Unnoticed by the goggle wearing teen or the red virus Digimon, rest between them a D-Ark with white and gold trim with symbols around the screen. The D-Ark had been glowing softly as the goggle wearing teen fell asleep, a few minutes after Takato fell asleep did the screen's light fade and the room darkens as the light goes out.

It would be an exciting morning when someone arrives to check on the Royal Knight called Gallantmon and finds two beings that everyone assumed was dead or reformatted.

-/-/-

The red head Tamer known as Rika stands before the door leading into the lab that they're keeping Gallantmon, her hand is about an inch from the door handle when her doubts and concerns once more flood into her mind, making her hand freeze in midair as she bites down on her lower lip. One of the main things that keeps her from entering into the lab as that they'd only find an empty slab of metal, that during the night the knight Digimon that saved Kazu, Guardromon, and Renamon from serious injury would have faded from existence, leaving them with the hard part of informing his order of his deletion.

"Did you wish to wait for one of the other Tamers before going in?" Her partner asks and she finally shakes herself, steeling herself for what lies behind the door. "No, we're here now; we might as well get this over with." She says in a calm voice that doesn't betray her nervousness.

She firmly grasps the handle and opens it, pushing the door open. The first thing they see is that there isn't a large Digimon on the slab though there does seem to be two smaller beings that she couldn't make out from the door way. "Renamon?" She asks, looking at her partner who seems to have stiffened slightly.

"I think that's Guilmon…" Her partner says, she frowns and looks between the two until she notices that one was all red. "But how?" She wonders out loud and in the end, they make their way towards the two beings resting on the slab.

"I can't believe it… they can't be…" She says softly, not aware she said anything out loud. "But it is." The humanoid fox Digimon says. Her eyes were studying the teen curled up on his right side, the cloths were old and pretty much rags since it's clear that Takato's grown out of them, though the goggles weren't perched on his head but hanging around his neck. The goggle wearing teen's hair was much longer and highly untamed.

Every so often the teenager on the metal slab would shiver for a few seconds, she glances around for something that could be used to cover the teen, trying to ignore the muscular body that's lies under those rags that hang on Takato's body, they didn't hide much of Takato's mature body and looked like they'd fall apart if Takato sits up or just moves around a bit more. She finds a sheet over some of the computers and decide to use that before she decides to just stand there, staring at the Tamer they all thought was dead.

Once Takato's covered up, she turns to study Guilmon's sleeping form. Unlike his Tamer, the virus Digimon doesn't seem to mind the chill in the air. She notices that Renamon seems to be standing on the slab, holding a D-Ark with gold trim. It's not long before the data rookie puts the Digivice by Takato, who's covered by that white sheet.

She sighs and then realises that she might as well let someone know about this development seeing as it's not very often Tamers and their partners that were taken for dead suddenly appear in place of a mega level Digimon. She glances around for a phone and on finding one, she walks up to it and presses the number seven so she can phone out of the building, she dials the Wong's apartment number and waits. She notices that Renamon seems reluctant to move from her position of standing between the two on the metal slab.

_Got to remember to ask Henry to bring some cloths, I don't think we want Takato dying from embarrassment._ She muses to herself, she couldn't help but feel like some kind of weight had been lifted from her now that Takato and Guilmon are just a couple of feet from her.

"Wong residence, Henry speaking." Her fellow Tamer says on picking up the phone. "It's me, Rika." She says and Henry asks in a slightly tired voice, "What's the emergency now?" "I won't say it's an emergency just yet, but I think you might want to bring a pack of cloths, I also suggest different sizes since I don't know his size and I'm not incline to get to close to him to measure him while he's sleeping." She tells Henry.

"And just who needs these cloths, might I ask?" Henry asks, she hears Terriermon making comments about her being too 'rough' with a guy's cloths. "He's back." She says and Henry asks, "He who?" "Gogglehead and Dino boy." She replies and from the other side, she hears something heavy drop to the floor.

"Are you sure?" Henry asks in a strangled voice. "I'm highly sure, he's wearing Takato's goggles around his neck and I'm sure that the red dino is Guilmon since Renamon recognized him too." She tells her fellow Tamer. "I'll be over as soon as I can." Henry promises and she nods, not that Henry can see that. "You know which lab we're in, see you soon." She says and soon she hangs up the phone.

_I can't believe you're alive, Gogglehead, especially after all this time…_ She thinks to herself as she stares at the lump in the sheet lying on the metal slab. She can't help but smile as she leans on the desk behind her, for once, something's finally right with the world and she knows that they're going to find out just how Takato and Guilmon survived getting shot at in the middle of Guilmon's Digivolving into a mega.

-/-/-

He enters the Hypno head quarters with a duffle bag filled with cloths, he even raided his dad's closet for larger sizes since they're unclear at how big Takato has gotten. The son of one of the original Monster Makers and Tamer to the irritating rookie Digimon known as Terriermon, Henry still tried to imagine what Takato would look like after four years. He also couldn't help but wonder what his friend would act like, for all they know, Takato could believe that they abandoned him or were cowards for not helping him when Beelzemon was shooting at Guilmon and himself.

Those thought weighted on his mind as he navigated through the main floor of the hotel that they've been using for the pass four years. He's breakfast feels like lead in his middle section as he continues to think of how much Takato could hate them or feel disgusted with them. He clenches his jaw as he stops before the open door.

"Momentai, Henry! This is Takato we're talking about, how mad can he be with us?" Terriermon asks, as if reading his mind. "But …" He trails off and Terriermon just sighs at that. "Oh, just get this over with; if he's a jerk then he's a jerk. Standing out here isn't going to change that, you know." Terriermon says and in the end, he steps through the doorway and the first thing he notices was a white sheet covering part of the metal slab where Gallantmon had been placed upon yesterday.

He notices something red curled up on the opposite side of the slab and standing in between them seems to be Renamon. Terriermon launches from his shoulder and uses his long ears to glide down the stairs, heading straight for the metal slab, likely to start poking Guilmon to make sure he's real. He looks away from the metal slab to glance at Rika, only to find Rika smiling softly as she stares at the lump in the sheet.

"He hasn't woken up yet?" He asks the red head once he's within five feet of her. Rika glances at him before answering, "No, he was shivering, his cloths are pretty much rags hanging off of his frame, not providing him with much warmth from what I can tell." He notices the light blush that Rika has when her eyes return to looking at the lump, he rises an eyebrow at that since he's never seen Rika react like that before, even the few times they went swimming together, she's never blushed or reacted to seeing teenage boys going around half naked like other teenage girls he known.

_Ok… that's odd, I makes me wonder just how much Takato's grown._ He muses; he then walks up to the metal slab. Once there, he picks up the sheet and begins to move under it, he might as well wake Takato seeing how any minute now they could be discovered and Takato's likely to be embarrassed with the lack of cloths covering his body.

He blinks in surprise when he makes it to that sleeping teen's side. He hadn't been prepared for the reality of actually seeing Takato lying before him, though he notices that Rika's right about his cloths being rags and how they don't really cover Takato's muscular body. He eyes Takato's long hair, wondering when was the last time Takato had a hair cut, but its likely that in the last four years, which is reasonable since it's been four years since they've seen him.

He sighs and begins to shake Takato's left should. "Takato, wake up, Takato!" He says softly and Takato rolls onto his back, his tired eyes gazing at him. "Henry? What's the matter?" Takato asks tiredly. "I got some cloths for you to try on." He tells Takato, the teen blinks his reddish brown eyes, looking slightly puzzled about something.

"Cloths?" Takato asks and he sighs. "Yes, cloths, if you haven't noticed, the ones you're wearing are rags." He answers and Takato looks more alert. Takato bolts up and begins to examine himself with a look of amazement written on his face, he can't help but be slightly amused as he watches this.

He also began to feel much better about all of this as Takato finishes his examination. "So we did manage to unmerge after all…" Takato says out loud, likely more for himself then for him. "Wait, you know what was going on?" He asks and Takato nods absentmindedly.

"I had amnesia from the time I first woke up as Gallantmon. It wasn't until I ended up as the order's leader did I begin to get bits and piece of my memory began to me, though it was still a bit of a patch job until I ended up in a coma did it total of my memories come to me. I didn't know what happened to Guilmon and thought he was deleted for the longest time…" Takato says, his eyes unfocused and he relaxed, though he's privately surprised to hear that this whole time as Gallantmon, he knew them but never said anything about it, but then, if he was in Takato's shoes, he might have done the same.

He puts a comforting hand on Takato's shoulder and Takato smiles slightly at him. "Is Guilmon alright?" Takato asks and before he can answer, Terriermon says, "Other then sleeping like a log, he seems fine."

"Anyway, you need to get out of those cloths and since we didn't know what size you were… Here." He hands over the duffle bag and Takato nods. He turns around to give Takato some privacy; though his mind was going over how relieved he was that Takato didn't seem to be angry with them if how Takato acted as Gallantmon was any indication.

_It's good to have you back, Takato._ He thinks to himself as he smiles to himself. It's clear that Takato's got a lot to tell them as they got a lot to tell him, he can only hope that they have enough time to get it all out in the open so they can work together like a team they had been four years ago.


	5. Chapter 5

**History of a Royal Knight**

I don't own Digimon

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Thoughts_

"Talking"

-/-/- Scene change

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Chapter 5

Guilmon woke just as the goggle wearing teen finishes putting on cloths that fit the Tamer known as Takato. He's not the only one to hear Guilmon yawn, he glances over where Renamon and Terriermon were standing as he finishes clipping his D-Ark to the jean's belt loop, his card deck was already semi in his right jean pocket. He smiles as he watches as Guilmon hauls his upper body up off the ground and yawns once more before the red rookie begins to look around.

"Renamon! Terriermon!" Guilmon shouts and within seconds Guilmon has tackled Terriermon to the ground since Renamon managed to fade from view when Guilmon first got to his feet. He laughs as Terriermon finds himself on his back with Guilmon's muzzle rubbing against his belly. Terriermon's too busy laughing to say anything coherent between chuckles.

"I think he's had enough, boy." He says to his partner with a slight grin on his face. After a few seconds Guilmon backs away from Terriermon, allowing the green coloured rookie some breathing room as Guilmon answers, "Okie dokie."

Then as Henry goes in to pick up his partner, Guilmon's stomach growls and his partner puts his forelimbs over his stomach area. "Takatomon, I'm hungry." Guilmon says and before he could answer, his own stomach complains about being empty too. He blushes slightly as his left hand goes to his midsection. "I guess I can use some breakfast too." He says, he notices the looks Henry exchanges with Rika before the red head Tamer sighs and motions for them to follow her, which they gladly do.

-/-/-

As they watched Guilmon and Takato eat, Tally and Riley enter into the kitchen chatting about how Gallantmon had likely been deleted during the night since when one of the scientists arrived in the lab where he was resting, there was nothing left of the mega, only the sheet that was covering the computers was founded on the metal slab.

To the red head's amusement, the pair hadn't noticed much as they made a bee line straight to the coffee pot with their mugs in hand. The pair were either too used to seeing them hanging out in the kitchen or they haven't had enough coffee yet to pay much attention to their surroundings. She can't help but glance from where they're standing before the coffee pot to Takato and Guilmon and back to the pair of system managers.

After their third cup of coffee and just as they finished poring their fourth did the pair notice them hanging about the kitchen as Takato and Guilmon fill their respective bellies, though Takato's intake as slowed which likely means that the teen is beginning to feel full. Tally looks relieved to see Henry, Renamon, Terriermon, and herself while Riley's busy refilling the coffee machine for other coffee addicts that are likely to follow as soon as the pair have left the kitchen.

"I guess you guys know about what happen, huh?" Tally asks them with regret evident in her eyes. "That Gallantmon disappear? Yea, we checked the lab first thing this morning." She says, nodding to her partner who returns said nod in reply.

"It must have come as a shock." Riley comments, joining the conversation going on at which point Henry and her exchange looks. "Yea, shocking and totally unbelievable would describe what we found in there." Henry replies with a shadow of a grin on his face. "I'd say miraculous even." Terriermon adds with a touch of amusement in his tone.

Henry sighs and gently raps his partner on the head with his knuckle. Terriermon chuckles nervously and it's not long before Riley's done with the coffee maker. "There, the next batch should be ready in fifteen minutes. Well, be seeing you guys." Riley says before leading Tally out of the kitchen, though the blond seems to be frowning about something, though says as she leaves, "Well, see you guys in the meeting room then, Rika, Renamon. You too Henry and Terriermon. And good to see you again, Takato."

She begins to count how many seconds it'll before they rush back in to see if they're hallucinating. "Wait a minute, did you say Takato?!" Riley asks just as she makes it to fourteen. In about five seconds the doors open and the red head Riley is standing at the door, staring at Takato and then at Guilmon before fainting.

Terriermon snickers as Tally attempts to wake Riley up. Takato turns to look that the pair, looking momentarily confused. "When did they get here?" Takato asks, glancing questionably at Henry and her. "I'd say about ten minutes ago." Terriermon answers dry and Takato looks sheepish. "I hadn't noticed." Takato admits and Terriermon says in what's to be assumed to be a comforting manner, "Well, you were busy stuffing your face."

"Terriermon!" Henry says and Terriermon replies in an equally outraged tone, "Henry!" Henry once more gently hits his partner on the head with his knuckles and Terriermon pretends that it hurt worst then what it did.

Amidst this chaos, the red headed Tamer couldn't help but notice that Takato's eyes seem to cloud over with uncertainty and a slight frown appears. Takato glances over to where Guilmon is still eating, she can't help but wonder. _What's going on in that brain of your's, gogglehead?_

-/-/-

The partner of Guilmon looks over the crowd that's gathered to hear not just about how Guilmon and himself had returned from the dead but also to hear what Dobermon had to say since this meeting had been originally all about Dobermon and now Guilmon and himself have been included in on this. He's highly unnerved by Kazu, Kenta, Jeri, and even Suzie's reactions to seeing them alive and well, it doesn't help that most of the Monster Makers wanted to examine both Guilmon and him when this meeting is over and done with.

Dobermon hadn't looked overly surprised to see Guilmon and himself, though it did make him wonder if this has anything to do with that 'gift' the Sovereigns sent with the champion Digimon. The dog Digimon waits until everyone has quieted down before beginning. The vaccine's eyes flicker towards Guilmon and then towards himself for a few seconds before the large Digimon with a spiked collar stands up and walks to where everyone can see him easily.

"To begin, I'm sure you all remember what happened at just outside of Zhuqiaomon's keep and what occurred between Beelzemon and yourselves." Dobermon begins, everyone at the table nod as he shifts his weight in his discomfort since he was just as much a problem as Beelzemon. Though he can see that Impmon suddenly finds his hands very interesting at this point, though what Dobermon says next surprises everyone at the table.

"As you all are aware of, when Megidramon appeared, it grabbed the attention of the whole Digital world and it was Ebonwumon that had recorded what happened when the great dragon appeared. And it was from this video that we learned just how deeply bonded a partnership between Digimon can go, for what Takato and Guilmon were attempting by the end of the fight was what we are calling a Bio Merge, though because of Beelzemon's interference, Takato and Guilmon's merger had been slightly incomplete since for the longest time, only one mind was a wake when they materialized as the mega Digimon known as Gallantmon." Dobermon says and he looks startled, wondering when the Sovereign Digimon figured out that he was Gallantmon since he thought nobody was aware but him.

"I'm sure that there was a lot more going on that took time to heal within Gallantmon." Dobermon says, glancing his way since it's been established with a select few that he was the one mind that Dobermon had been talking about. "But the main thing is, we now believe that it takes the merger of the Tamer and Digimon to achieve mega level but since in the real world humans aren't made up of, how did you term it once? False proteins?" Dobermon asks, looking over to Yamaki, the blond haired man looks uncomfortable at the reminder of how he once regarded Digimon as scum and digital trash. Riley puts a comforting hand on his shoulder as Dobermon glances around the members of the meeting before moving on.

"Since that's the problem the Sovereign ones and Yggdrasil have taken time to examine the problem and have come up with a program to upgrade the D-Arks so that as long as a Tamer has their D-Arks, they can Bio Merge with their partner Digimon without any harmful effects occurring." Dobermon says, he's surprised to learn of Yggdrasil's involvement in this but then again, considering who he had been serving it's not that surprising really, not if it helps detain the D-Reaper which as part of Yggdrasil's agenda in overcoming the D-Reaper.

"And where is this program?" Janya, Henry and Suzie's dad asks. "In my Digi-Core. Since time isn't of the essence, you have time to extract the program from my core without me having to sacrifice myself to release it into the air for it to be gathered up by the D-Arks. Since you likely have the necessary equipment on stand by for your examination of Takato when he was trapped as Gallantmon, I believe it will only take a day at the most to extract the program without any harm to my core." Dobermon answers, everyone at the table seems stunned by this, not that he's at all surprised and he can tell that neither is Ryo and Lopmon.

_What better way of storing a program then installing it into a Digi-core? Computers can be hacked, documents can be stolen, and secrets can be reveals through torture but you can't get at the Digi-core since the Digimon's defences would suicide, clearing out almost everything non-essential from the Digi-core, which means that the program will vanish too. It also keeps the D-Reaper from ever getting a hold of such things to use to upgrade itself._ He muses to himself as people start the question and answer session with Dobermon within seconds of recovering from hearing that bit about installing programs into a Digi-core.

The looks on the other Tamers' faces were that of excitement, relief, thoughtfulness, and in Jeri's case, sadness. Kazu was already thinking about what mega level Digimon his partner's capable of Digivolving into while Kenta's seems to be relieved that things were looking up, not that this program means much to him since his partner is MarineAngemon and the tiny mega wasn't the type that has higher forms of Digivolving like some Digimon, like for example, Imperialdramon who can achieve Fighter Mode and Paladin Mode or Beelzemon and his Blaster Mode.

Ryo seems to be thoughtful about something while Rika and Suzie seem excited and Impmon's partners, Ai and Mako, were slightly bummed about this since Impmon can already warp Digivolve so they're likely never have need to use this program; though Henry had looked excited until Terriermon's Tamer glances at his little sister and a worried look overturned Henry's excitement within seconds. Most of the Digimon were pretty much calm, though Terriermon's eyes seem to be sparkling with what appears to be battle lust… He notices that Calumon's more interesting on sleeping on Guilmon's head then paying much mind to what they're saying, but then, his partner looks ready for a nap too.

He smiles slightly at the red Digimon that he created so long ago and can't help but feel joy at just looking at him, to know that the virus rookie was by his side once more. It's not long before the meeting breaks up and without motioning for him to follow, the Monster Makers gently herded Dobermon out of the room so they can begin retracting that program. It's not long before the rest of them leave, leaving him alone with the Tamers and their partners.

They all kind of eyed each other; nobody seems to know how to start the conversation. He attempts to gather up his courage but before he can, Jeri says in a highly upset voice, "Can you ever forgive us?"

He stood there, totally stunned by what Jeri had said, trying and failing to see what they had to be sorry about. "But I'm the one who turned…" He begins, looking at Guilmon who's currently napping in the chair he was sitting in for the meeting. "I'm the one that should be apologizing, you guys didn't do anything wrong… Ok, maybe Impmon did but… ya." He says, sending a quick glance Impmon's way in time to see Impmon look sheepish and guilty about the whole episode.

"But we didn't even try to step in and help when you guys were about to Bio Merge!" Kazu blurts out, clearly in disbelief about what he had said. He kind of looks around at the group and realizes that the others all seem to agree with Kazu's statement, even Ryo seems to be expressing guilt and he wasn't even there.

"But there wasn't enough time…" He trails off, more then a little unsure how to clear this up. "Yea well, guilt's kind of illogical. So I guess we forgive each other for what we did or didn't do, huh?" Rika says and in the end, they nod in agreement with some of them muttering agreements.

He felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders as he gaze fondly at each of them. "I missed you guys!" He says and Kazu and Kenta shout back, "We missed you too, man!" He found himself getting a hug from the pair of them, it's not long before Jeri, Suzie, Ai, and Mako join in. Slowly Henry joins the group hug with Ryo and Rika daring each other until they do it about the same time before the group breaks up.

It wasn't long before he's answering tons of questions about what life was like as not just as a Royal Knight, but as a Digimon. About what kind of fights he got into and in turn, he learned about what happened while he was gone and how they managed to rescue Jeri from the D-Reaper.

In time they couldn't think of what else to talk about and they're stomachs began to alert them that it's about noon. He wakes up Guilmon and Calumon before they leave the meeting room together. Guilmon wakes fully on hearing that they're heading off to get lunch, Calumon yawned and just remained on his partner's head as they left the conference room.

He can't help but reflex about how good it was to be among the Tamers once more. Though he does wonder if he'll ever keep his promise of seeing Alphamon again and the other digital knights since as much as he loves being home again, he knows that he still has a duty to the order and he truly wants to fill it until the D-Reaper has been taken care of.

-/-/-

Butterflies flitter within his belly as he finds himself suddenly filled with the urge to turn around and flee before his parent's catch sight of him. He snaps out of his jitters when Rika puts her hand on his shoulder, he looks into her violent eyes and finds that they're soft as they gaze into his reddish brown eyes. He doesn't know what kind of emotion fills those eyes but his heart seems to pound in his chest as he gets another set of butterflies as he knows that Rika has grown up to be a highly attractive young woman.

"Come on, gogglehead, you have to face them sooner or later." Rika says and he nods. He manages to look away, he feels his face redden as he does so. "If you say so." He replies simply and from behind he gets a slight nudge. "I say so." Rika says in a dry but firm voice.

He walks into the bakery, the bell above the door chimes. Someone walks out from the kitchen, his mom greets Rika before she turns to study him. "Mom…" He says, blinking as he tries to fight the tears that threaten to fall. His mother's right hand goes to her chest and within seconds his mother cries out, "Takato? Takato!"

He finds himself enveloped in a hug from his mother; he returns the hug as the tears over come his fragile control. It's not long before his father comes out from the back and his mother says as if she had eyes in the back of her head, "Dear, Takato's come home! He's home!" Within seconds, his father joins in the hug fest and his heart swells.

_I'm home, mom, dad. I just don't know for how long though. But I'm glad to see you guys again, I really missed you guys._ He thinks to his parents, he couldn't seem to control his voice but at the moment, it doesn't matter. He's home and for now, that's all that seems to matter for him and for his parents too.

-/-/-

The red head Tamer watches the touching scene, she feels slightly out of place watching them. She also had the piece of mind to flip the open sign to close so that nobody shows up to ruin their family moment. She smiles as Takato's parents begin questioning him about how he survived and why he didn't come home with the others.

As Takato's father leads Takato out of the front section of the bakery, Takato's mom, Mei Matsuki, looks at her. She's still surprised when Mei pulls her in for a hug and then keeps her arm around her shoulders. "Thanks for returning our boy to us. Come on, I'm sure you can use a snack or something." Mrs Matsuki says and it's not long before she finds herself being pulled along into the back room.

_I guess a little snack can't hurt…_ Were her thoughts on the matter.


	6. Chapter 6

**History of a Royal Knight**

I don't own Digimon

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Thoughts_

"Talking"

-/-/- Scene change

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Chapter 6

Guilmon woke him up by poking him in the side. "Wha' s up, 'oy?" He asks as he yawns, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. "I'm hungry, Takatomon." Guilmon informs him and he blinks a few times before asking, "What time is it?"

He watches as his partner glances to the clock on the wall, they're staying in the rooms that he had been staying at while he was Gallantmon, though they now have an actual bed for them to sleep on. It seems that if there's a rush, they could easily Bio Merge here before rushing out of the building to confront the D-Reaper. He waits for Guilmon to tell him the time since the red rookie's blocking his view of the clock.

"The clock as this thing that kind of reminds me of a kind of sugar donut I saw once." Guilmon chirps and he asks, "Wha? A donut?" He's thoroughly confused for a few seconds before he sits upright to glance at the electronic clock glowing eight twenty-three. "Remind me to teach how to read numbers, boy." He says and Guilmon nods but asks, "So does that mean we can go down to the kitchen for breakfast, Takatomon?"

He ignores Guilmon's nickname for him as he tries to remember what's suppose to happen today since he knows something important was planned for today. _Let's see, its Monday which usually means that the Tamers have school to attend._ He muses, he's just glad that he doesn't have to attend but then, he's too far behind on the material that he doesn't think he'd find himself in the same grade even if he was to attend.

"Takatomon!" Guilmon whined and he turns to look at his partner, blinking owlishly at his beloved partner Digimon. He chuckles as he noticed the slightly pity invoking look Guilmon was sending him. "Alright, alright, I'm up, I'm up." He repeats for Guilmon's benefit and his partner looks satisfied.

He picks up his discarded pyjama shirt and puts it on, leaving the buttons undone as he slips his feet into a pair of slippers. He shakes his hair and then runs his fingers through it in hopes of styling it before putting on his goggles to keep his bangs from dropping in front of his eyes. Guilmon's already at the door as he moves towards the door, Guilmon almost dancing in excitement and in anticipation for the up coming meal.

He knows that afterwards he'll have to come back up here to the room to put on the cloths lent to him. He imagines that on today's agenda that somebody's either going to take his measurements or take him cloth shopping for 'proper' cloths. Not that he finds that the cloths he's borrowing fine, but he knows that sooner or later, somebody's going to decide he needed his own wardrobe. He can only hope that they just take his measurements since he can't imagine what it'll be like to not just go shopping for cloths since from what he remembers, it sometimes took up to four hours before his mom was satisfied enough to stop.

He's glad that they didn't have to wait too long for the elevator so it's not long before they're in the kitchen grabbing items, Guilmon was grabbing the food items while he grabs what he needs to make breakfast like measuring cups, egg whisk, and other items of similar use. As the goggle wearing teen surveys the food stuffs that Guilmon has on the counter top, he clicks his tongue as he notices a few things that he knew he couldn't make much use of seeing how they won't taste good cooked.

"I hate to tell you this, boy, but you can't cook pickles, cucumbers yes, but not pickles." He tells his partner as he walks over, picking up the jar containing the pickles. "I know olives can be cooked but I don't think they'd taste very good with chocolates and with the fruit," the teen tells the red rookie and his partner pouts slightly but gets over it within a heart beat later.

It's not long before he's put what he knew wouldn't work out away and then begins work on making pancakes that he knows that Guilmon will eat, combining what he knows that Guilmon expects to have mixed into his pancakes. He'll mix his batter once he's cooking pancakes for Guilmon, he can't help but shake his head for he has long since given up as to where Guilmon got his weird taste buds for highly unusual combo of foods.

_Maybe I should blame Calumon…_ He muses to himself but knows that even before they met up with the little Digimon, Guilmon had already been expressing this odd taste in food. He shakes his head as he watches as Guilmon eats a peeled orange dipped in peanut butter with bits of chocolate chips on it.

"How can he eat that?" He mutters as he watches Guilmon pick up an apple and pore some maple syrup on said apple before adding some whip cream on it. He turns away before his partner consumes said apple. He focuses on stirring the batter within the bowl then on watching his partner snack on the spare food lying on the counter.

Soon enough he thinks that the batter was ready and begins use a spoon to put the batter on the frying pan that's waiting for him. He waits until he's made about four pancakes for Guilmon before he begins to make some plain batter, it won't be a large amount of batter either since he doesn't have a large appetite. _But then, who does when you compare them to Guilmon?_ He muses to himself.

Soon he's out of both kinds of batter and Guilmon's full. He smiles softly as he watches as Guilmon pat his belly with a slightly sleepy look on his face. He glances lazily at the clock and stretches, suppressing a yawn as he does so.

He sighs as he looks down at his attire and decides to head back up to change into some other cloths. "You want to hang out down here or come up with me?" He inquires. "Can we watch TV up there?" Guilmon asks, looking slightly more alert then he had a few minutes ago.

"Yea, sure, though, when did you become interested in watching TV?" He asks his partner, glancing at the rookie sideways as he collects the dishes they used, putting them by the sink where the other dirty dishes were. "Calumon talked about it and I want to see if it's as boring as he says." Guilmon replies with a slight shrug, he smiles as he shakes his head slightly.

"Calumon gets bored in the middle of playing a game of hide and seek, of course he would find sitting down in front of the TV to be boring." He muses and Guilmon looks thoughtful. "So does that mean that it is fun?" Guilmon asks him with a slight tilt of his head.

"Depends on what you find when you channel surf." He informs his partner, shrugging as he walks to the door with Guilmon following almost right behind him. "Is that anything like water surfing, Takato?" Guilmon asks as they headed to the door.

"It's mostly flipping through the channels looking for a show you want to watch, though I'm sure they've got a better way to do it now a days." He tells his partner as the wait for the elevator to arrive to the main floor. "Oh, but how do you do that?" His partner asks and he begins to explain about how to use a TV remote.

As he was explaining he hears a shout, "Takato! Wait up; we have to ask you something." Riley says, he holds the elevator doors open as a group of women come towards him. He notices that it's not just Tally and Riley but also Curly and Daisy, members of the Monster Makers, were coming towards them.

"Did something happen?" He asks, dread filling his mid section. "Nothing like that, we thought we can take you cloth shopping while we wait for the Tamers to drop by after school and attempt to Bio Merge with their partners." Daisy says and he blinks, not that surprised really since he had mused about it just this morning after all.

"I guess, though aren't you guys busy analyzing that hyper bubble that's within the D-Reaper?" He asks the group, already guessing where this was headed and slightly dreading the fact that he can't stand before their might since the workings of the female mind were a mystery to all male kind.

Even among Digimon there seems to be a kind of gender, even though it's highly flexible and those that seem to prefer to act female had that mystery quality to them, after all his fellow knight Crusadermon is highly feminine and even speaks with a voice he would say was a woman's voice, which was why he usually called the pinked armoured Digimon ma'am when they hanging out at their head quarters. Crusadermon never did correct him or any of the others when they use the terms reserved for women like Miss, lady, Madame, and other such titles.

"Well, the trip to the mall will be a relative short one but you really need cloths that suit you." Curly says and he can't help but wonder what she meant by 'cloths that suit you' since he doesn't see why this was so important that they needed to do it now and not when they've gotten rid of the D-Reaper. But then, he knows better then to ask them to explain so he just nods and glances questioningly at Guilmon before glancing at the group.

"He can come too, if he wants to." Riley says and Guilmon seems to be at a lost as to what they were talking about. "Where are we going, Takatomon?" Guilmon asks him and he replies, "It seems we're going to the mall to shop for cloths." "Okie doie, Takatomon," Guilmon says and then asks, "but, what's a mall?"

The four women standing before the elevator share looks and he motions for Guilmon to step out of the elevator since it seems that they're going now instead of allowing him to head up to the top floor to change into something else. All he can do was pray that when they mean a short trip to the mall, they mean that it'll be a short trip.

-/-/-

"Jeri, wait up! Hey, Jeri!" Kazu says as she turns to look at the visor wearing Tamer as he falls into step with her, it's not long before Kenta with MarineAngemon show up in the Kazu's wake since even now, the two boys were rarely seen apart from one another, which lead to much whispering speculation among the student body even though Kazu has tried to hook up with different girls over the years but it never seems to work out since all the Tamers carry cell phones so that Hypnos can get a hold of them when the D-Reaper acts up.

"Kazu, Kenta." She says and when MarineAngemon says, "Me?" The teenager called Jeri, ex-partner of Leomon, replies, "It's always good to see you, MarineAngemon." The pink mega smiles and moves to hover by Kenta's right shoulder as they head off, though Kazu just seems to shake his head after watching her interaction with the tiny mega.

"I still can't figure out how you guys can turn a few words that guy says into whole sentences and it's been four years!" Kazu whines slightly and she shrugs, sharing a look with Kenta. "Maybe you need a few more years to figure it out." The glass wearing Tamer muses and out of the corner of her eye, she watches as Kazu rolls his eyes on hearing that answer once more.

"So, is Guardromon at Hypnos or do we need to go pick him up?" She asks, changing the subject. "He's at HQ so we can head straight there. Though, where's Calumon? Doesn't he usually hook up with you by now?" Kazu asks and she answers, "I think he might be hanging around Guilmon today. It's been so long since those two have seen each other, much less hang out together."

"Yea, it's kind of weird that during all this time, Takato and Guilmon were alive. I still can't believe Takato joined the Royal Knights though, I mean, this is chummily we're talking about. It's kind of hard to imagine him turning out to be Gallantmon of all Digimon!" Kazu muses; she smiles slightly as she muses about it. "I think it suits him." She murmurs.

She notices that Kazu gives her a questioning look before asking, "What you say? Could you repeat that, Jeri, and turn up the volume while you're at it, please." Kazu says and she repeats her last comment, "I said, I think it suits him."

Out of the corner of her eye, she watches as Kazu pauses as he straightens up, an odd distant expression appears on his face for about a minute before Kazu recovers from his reaction. She smiles slightly as Kazu shrugs it off. "Well, yea, but you got to wonder though, when all this is over, what's he going to do? I mean, is he going to stick around here or head back to the Digital world to do his duties as a Royal Knight? I mean, he's got loads of responsibilities waiting for him back in the Digital world; he might not be able to abandon those responsibilities either. I mean, if I had to decide between school and living in the Digital world, well, Digital here I come!" Kazu says, punching the air with his left fist as he declares the last part.

She frowns as she considers what her friend had said and felt dread within her since she could envision Takato leaving them to do just that since from what she's been able to gather, Takato had no desire to reveal who he was if he hadn't been forced to unmerge with Guilmon. Her thoughts drifted off to how odd Rika had been acting since Takato and Guilmon were back among them, she had been noticing how often she's noticed Rika staring at Takato during the meeting they had where Dobermon told them about that program that should allow the Tamers to Bio Merge with their partners to become mega level Digimon.

It was odd behaviour on Rika's part but then, she's noticed that Rika's never paid much mind to any guys and she can't help but wonder if it might have something to do with the fact that unlike the other boys that surround her from day to day that Rika just grew too use to seeing familiar face that an unfamiliar one just might be what she needed to take note of boys since she knew that Rika wasn't interesting in girls like that. It was kind of refreshing seeing Rika act like a girl with a crush since the red head Tamer always seems to keep her emotions under control and she doesn't think that's very healthy since that's something that Rika had done before she hooked up with Takato and Henry, to form the 'core' of the Tamer group.

She can only hope for Rika's sake that Takato doesn't leave for long or that he doesn't have to leave at all…

-/-/-

As he surveys himself in the mirror, his wearing a steel grey long sleeve shirt with a white circle with a red swirl within the circle, his goggles were hung around his head as he studies his light brown cargo pants and his white and red trainers. He then turns his attention to his newly trimmed hair, he runs his right hand through it before moving his yellow trimmed goggles to help keep his bangs from falling onto his face.

He turns away from the mirror to glance to where his partner is sitting before the TV. It's about time for the Tamers to show and he feels much better now that he's had a shower as well as had a bit of a rest from shopping with those ladies this morning. He still can't believe how many bags of cloths they managed to buy within those two hours that they were out. He's still not sure why he needed a winter jacket let alone two pairs of swim trunks, a formal suit, a pair of winter boots, a pair of polish able shoes, and finally three sets of pyjamas.

Takato shrugs mentally and walks over to where his partner is sitting. "We should be heading down stairs, boy. The Tamers are either on their way here or are here, so we might as well hook up with them." He tells his partner and Guilmon gently presses his index claw to the power button on the remote, turning the TV off. His partner rises off the floor and says in puzzlement, "I still don't get how come those… car-mer-shals aren't shows."

He chuckles slightly at Guilmon's attempts of saying the word 'commercials.' It reminds him of the time that Guilmon tried to say 'Momentai' but just couldn't get it. _Come to think of it, can Guilmon say Momentai?_ He wonders as they wait for the elevator to show up as Guilmon hums a theme song to one of the anime shows that he watched today while he was napping, which was a change since it's usually Guilmon napping and him watching TV.

Guilmon's humming changes to another theme song as they step out of the elevator just in time to hook up with Rika and Renamon, he watches as Rika's eyes widen slightly as she takes in his altered appearance. He grins at her as he greets her, "Hey Rika, Renamon. Just got here, huh?"

As they head towards the main lab, he notices out of the corner of his eye that his fellow Tamer had a light blush but he decides that it's just the way the light was, so he dismisses it though a slight warm sensation spreads through his mid section with a touch on his face.

"Yea, we did. I see you got some new cloths. When did this happen?" Rika asks and he replies, "Today, actually. Talley, Riley, Daisy, and Curly took us out this morning for a two hour shopping spree. I'm not sure if I need half the stuff they bought me really."

They continue on that vein for a while, he tells her about the items he thought he didn't need, he ignored the light blush on Rika's cheeks as they wait for the others to arrive. They end their conversation when Henry arrives with Ryo and their partners; it's not long before Jeri, Kazu, and Kenta arrive and it's a bit longer before the younger Tamers arrive with their partners.

Once they're all here, Henry, Kazu, Rika, Ryo, and, after a slight argument between Henry and her, Suzie hand over their D-Arks for the program to get installed. So they waited for all the D-Arks to finish getting the program install before they headed outside to watch those Tamers attempt to Bio Merge with their respective partners. He does try to give them tips, but then, it's been a long time since Guilmon and him first attempted to Bio Merge, so he can't really help them much with their own first attempts, so he just leaned against a wall and watched as they each took their turns.


	7. Chapter 7

**History of a Royal Knight**

I don't own Digimon

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_Thoughts_

"Talking"

-/-/- Scene change

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Chapter 7

It's been two days since most of the Tamers received the program that Dobermon carried and they're now taking a break from their Bio Merging attempts, they've taken to hanging out at his current residency at head quarters. Though they had to bring in some furniture for everyone to sit comfortably on as they hang out in front of the TV, some doing last minute homework, others playing the card game or busy cracking jokes, mostly though, they just enjoyed being together.

The goggle wearing Tamer named Takato smiles as he glances to where the Digimon were, not really paying any mind to the show on the TV. His crimson hazel eyes focusing on a certain crimson rookie, his partner Digimon that hadn't been a wake for four years straight, which left him in control of their collective body, a mega level Digimon called Gallantmon. Just this morning he had that nightmare again and spent a good ten minutes watching his partner as Guilmon slept just to make sure that the red virus Digimon was actually there and not some hallucination or just dreaming.

He blinks and looks away as he feels someone watching him, he finds Jeri studying him before quickly turning away. He sighs, knowing he's not the only one trying to get use to this situation in which they find themselves in. After all, just a few weeks ago, everyone that knew him as Takato had thought him dead, then when he arrived here as Gallantmon, they likely decided that as Gallantmon, he was some kind of Digi child of Guilmon's.

If it won't for that virus that was laced in those needles, nobody would even know that Gallantmon was the merged form of the goggle head Tamer Takato and his naïve Digimon partner, Guilmon. Heck, until just a few moments before he passed out from getting hit, he thought Guilmon was lost to him, which meant that he had little reason to reveal just who he really was to Hypnos and especially to the Tamers.

"You seem out of it." Ryo muses and he blinks, glancing at his fellow Bio Merging team member. "I'm still overwhelmed, you know? Up to a few days ago, I thought all I'll ever be was a Royal Knight and that once I'm done helping out here, I'd head back to the Digital world to rejoin my fellow knights, to reunion with…" He tells Ryo, he trails off as he thinks of Alphamon, he can't help but miss the black armoured leader who he still remembers as a young rookie looking to prove himself.

"You got a girlfriend back there?" Ryo asks in bemusement. "Not really, it's just that I miss Alphamon is all, I still recall what he was like as a rookie, he was like the little brother I never had. I still find it hard to believe just how much he's grown within the months I had known him. I've spent that last four to three years working with a group of Digimon, getting to know them enough to consider them dear friends and brothers in arms. I mentored Alphamon since he was a young and bright Dorumon and I'm one he sometimes turns to for advice or to be there when he's upset or mourning. I know, logically, that he'll be fine without me, but… he's as important to me as you guys are and I feels like I'm deserting one to be with the other, you know?" He says to Ryo and the Legendary Tamer nods.

"Yea, I kind of get how you feel." Ryo replies, he glances to where Ryo's looking before looking back at Ryo. He then glances back at Monodramon before looking down at his hands, wondering what kind of memories that stirred within the young man sitting next to him.

"Ha, I won again!" Kazu declares, startling him out of his thoughts. He grins as he watches Kenta groan, something it seems, haven't changed one bit since he's been gone. "So, chummily, want to give it a go? Hell, I'll even go easy on ya since it's been a while since you last played." Kazu volunteers as the visor wearing Tamer turns to look at him, it clear that Kazu's confident that even with that self proclaimed handy cap that he'd wipe the floor with him.

He frowns as he takes out his card deck, he hadn't had a chance to go through his deck and he's pretty sure his card skills are rusty, he'd be lucky to recall most of the rules if he recalls any at all. "I'm not too sure I'll take you up on that challenge, Kazu. I mean, for one thing, I'm kind of rusty and for another, I haven't had the chance to get any new cards." He admits to the group lounging around the TV.

"Ah, come on, I said I'd go easy on ya." Kazu says and he shakes his head as attempts to put his deck back into his deck pouch… only to find that Rika was going through his deck. He glances at his hand that was supposed to be holding the card deck to Rika, who's surveying his card deck. He sends Henry and Ryo a questioning look only for the pair to shrug; it seems that they don't know how she did it either.

With a slight nod, Rika says as she shuffles his card deck. "I'll give it a go, mind if I borrow your cards, goggle head?" Rika asks and he shakes his head, wondering just what Rika's up to, though Kazu seems to be torn between withdrawing the offer to confidence of beating Rika will she uses his cards, which still contained cards he picked out four years ago.

_I wonder if my parents sold my card collection… or if Kazu and Kenta bought it._ He wonders as he moves off the couch he was sharing with Ryo to sit down on the floor where the card match was going to be playing out on. He watches as Kazu shuffles his own deck of cards with a look of concentration plastered on his face.

"Lady's first." Kazu says in amusement. Rika rolls her eyes but does make the first move by putting down the in-training Digimon card of Tokomon and motions for Kazu to begin his turn. He watches as the two Tamers play the Digimon trading card game, old memories surface as he watches them play and he's more then a little amused as Rika slowly gains the upper hand despite the fact that she's using his deck that holds cards that were four years old without any of the latest cards.

Rika wins by Digivolving Etemon into MetalEtemon and deleting what remains of Kazu's army of Greymons. "Ah man!" Kazu shouts, clearly not enjoying the defeat he was handed curtsy of one Rika Nonaka, who's official title is Digimon Queen within the ranks of those who play Digimon the card game.

Rika hands him his deck and he pockets it as Kazu rants about how unfair life was as the visor wearing Tamer picks up his card deck. He rejoins Ryo on the couch while Rika takes one of the free lazy boy chairs. It's not long before Kazu and Kenta to sit where Jeri is sitting alone on the much larger couch.

He studies the looks Jeri and Kenta were sharing and he smiles slightly as he gets why they're doing so. _I guess they're keeping it a secret or they're not totally aware of what they're looking at each other like that. Well, I wish them luck and happiness when they do figure it out or get together._ He muses to himself as he returns to watching some show about giant robots fighting in space.

-/-/-

The Digimon Queen couldn't keep herself from scowling as she watches as Cherubimon and Justimon easily destroys dozens of the wireless agents with their attack which makes their efforts seem meaningless in the grand scheme of things. She balls a fist but relaxes it as she tries to take her mind off of those jealous thoughts.

"Wish you were there, don't you?" Takato asks her and she looks away from the scene of battle. She glances sideways at him, wondering if he feels like he should be helping out as well. "Don't worry, they'll do fine and if not, well, Guilmon and I could always come to their rescue, although, if things get tough, you and Renamon could always come to our rescue." Takato adds lightly that she couldn't help but feel a bit of heat enter her cheeks.

"Yea well, one of these days I expect payment for saving your sorry ass, Gogglehead." She says as she once more turns to watch the scene playing out a few miles away from their position. Henry, Kenta, and Kazu were positioned in a different roof top, though she's not alone with the goggle wearing Tamer, Ai and Mako with Impmon were with them, though Impmon looks highly impatient about this force inactivity.

Currently, Guilmon and Renamon were playing Eye Spy which Ai and Mako had started, which helps keep the twins from seeing the violence occurring miles from their position. While they were Tamers and getting to be about the age she and the other Tamers became Tamers, it doesn't keep them from at least trying to keep them from seeing such violent battle scenes. Her eyes linger on Cherubimon, she knows it must kill Henry seeing his little sister, his baby sister fighting so passionately, killing loads of the most advance agents the D-Reaper can make.

"Henry's not going to be happy camper after this." Takato muses as Cherubimon uses Storm of Judgement which pretty much wipes the battle field of D-Reaper agents, though Justimon had to evade a few attacks to remain safe. "That's the understatement of the year." She muses and out of the corner of her eye, she watches Takato sigh and shake his head.

"You sure you can't think of any other helpful hints when it comes to Bio Merging, Gogglehead?" She asks for what seems to be the hundredth time in the last four days. "Nothing more then what I've told you, though, if we were in the Digital world, I think you guys would have had a better time of it." Takato muses much to her continued annoyance.

"Then why don't you arrange for us to have a little trip to the Digital world." She huffs before turning away. She heads for the stairs and it's not long before she feels Renamon following in wake. She curses herself for allowing her foul mood to over come her which causes her to snap at Takato, who's only trying to help.

-/-/-

The goggle head of the Tamers watches with a bemused expression as Dobermon bites down on the bone he's chewing on. It struck him as funny at the moment at how much like a dog Dobermon looked like at that moment, though someone had been kind enough to take the spiked collar off of the champion Digimon so that Dobermon didn't have to worry about injuring himself when he slept.

"So, do you think it can be arranged? I mean, I'm sure you're still in contact with Azulongmon since you do need to update the Sovereigns on what's occurring here in the Real world and I'm sure they have ways of communicating with you and vice a versa." He says to break the silence that had descended between them.

He finds it hard to read the champion's expression but finally Dobermon says something, "The problem will be finding a safe course and then there's the housing problem." He snorts softly as he says, "Just inform the order that I'd be returning with guests for a day and a night. They'll make room as long as we give them the number of guests arriving with Guilmon and myself."

Dobermon gave him what he assumed to be a sceptical look and he says, "I know, I know that nobody but Royal Knights are allowed at the main keep but I'm sure Alphamon will make exceptions this once since it's not as if we'll be sticking around in the Digital world any longer then we have to." "I'm sure that Azulongmon will pass this… request on to your commander, though I have my doubts about how effective this will be." Dobermon admits and he shrugs.

"If things had likely worked out differently, then I'm sure at least Rika and Henry would have known how to Bio Merge before coming here. I can't say the same for the others though." He admits, he frowns as he stares off out of the window, Dobermon's room is located on the second floor of the building so he couldn't see beyond the buildings to gaze at the now coal colour D-Reaper blob.

He tries to push the 'what ifs' and 'could have beens' out of his mind since they didn't really matter in the end, what did matter was how he deals with the reality at hand, which he was finding slightly difficult to handle as a teenage boy. He truly misses having the level of emotional maturity and slight emotional detachment that being a mega level Digimon had brought him. He sighs and shakes his head before nodding to Dobermon as he begins to head out of the room.

He glances at the watch around his wrist; he had supper with his parents in about an hour's time so he heads to the elevators to head up to his rooms to get ready for diner. He can only hope that Guilmon doesn't getting into too much trouble during then and now, he really doesn't want to be late since they rarely have time to see each other as much as he would like. He could only hope that once everything has settled down after they defeated the D-Reaper that he could, maybe, move back in with his parents back in Shinjuku…

-/-/-

_Relax, take deep calming breath. Nothing can rush you if you don't allow it. Time is…_ A beeping snaps him out of his thoughts and with a grunt, the mega known as Alphamon gets off the ground and heads towards his com-link to see who's calling.

_Azulongmon? Why would he be calling… unless…_ His stomach feels like lead as his mouth feels dry, a sense of dread overcomes his mind as he imagines what bad things could have befallen his mentor and closest friend, Gallantmon.

He's silently glad he didn't take off his bulky armour since he knows that without his armour, he's an odd sight. He smiles sadly as he remembers seeing Gallantmon without his armour, he had just interrupted the viral knight as he was taking a shower and it had been a very embarrassing moment between them, he's just glad that it occurred within Gallantmon's rooms since he really didn't want to embarrass the elder knight.

"Greetings Azulongmon, it's been a while since I last heard from you. I hope everything is well?" He manages to ask despite his emotional turmoil.

"Greetings Commander Alphamon and yes, things seem to be looking up. From Dobermon, we have been informed that the Tamers now have the ability to Bio Merge in the Real world, though your knight has asked an odd request of you from what we can tell." The great sky dragon Digimon says and his emotions calm as his curiosity is piped.

"And what is this odd request?" He asks the Sovereign Digimon, wondering what his old mentor is asking of him. Though he already knows he'll grant it, he just wants to seem like he's going to consider it, making it seems as if he gave it a great deal of thought when in reality he had already agreed to go along with whatever Gallantmon had asked of him. After all, Gallantmon has always looked out for the best interests of not just the Royal Knights but for the Digital world in whole.

"It seems that he wishes to spend at least a day here in the Digital world, he wants to bring the Tamers that have of yet to Bio Merge along with him so that they might have an easier time of it. He's requesting that for this that they may have temporary housing at your head quarters." Azulongmon says and he blinks in surprise.

He nods as he recovers from the shocking requests. "I take it that they're having a bit of trouble with this… Bio Merging?" He asks and the great blue dragon nods. "I'll have arrangements ready within the day; I hope you can arrange for suitable transport? I'm sure that Gallantmon will be able to guide the ship to our coordinates." He says, from what he can tell, his answer clearly came as a shock to the great dragon and his armour hid his grin.

"I have trusted Gallantmon with my life and I know I can trust his judgement on this. If his thinks this will benefit our cause then this course of action will be undertaken." He informs the Sovereign.

"You have much trust in him, it would seem." Azulongmon comments and he replies softly, "His family." "I'll pass along your answer as soon as possible, commander. I'm sure you two have a lot of catching up to do when he arrives." Azulongmon says and he nods as he already understands what likely has occurred between the Tamers and his mentor, Takato Matsuki.


	8. Chapter 8

**History of a Royal Knight**

I don't own Digimon

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Thoughts_

"Talking"

-/-/- Scene change

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Chapter 8

The Tamer known as Takato, partner to Guilmon, and mentor to Alphamon couldn't keep a grin off his face as he walks through the halls towards the elevators. He wasn't all that surprised to learn that Alphamon granted his request without thinking it over for long, his fondness for Alphamon had grown though in the back of his mind he knows that he has some explaining to do when arrives back at the head quarters of the Royal Knights but so far, he manages to push those kind of thoughts out of the fore front of his mind.

"What you grinning about, Gogglehead?" Rika asks him as he waits for the elevator to arrive down. He turns to glance at the red head Tamer and just grins wider then before as those butterflies within him have begun to flutter within his gut as he studies the red head Tamer who still retains the title of Digimon Queen.

He remembers feeling like this around her before but now, it seems as if it intensified and he knows that it had little to do with fearing her wrath too. Though he kind of had to wonder, did she knows what kind of feelings she provoked within him and if so, is that why he keeps running into her more often then not? He sighs mentally, before answering Rika's inquiry.

"Just got some good news is all." He replies before asking, "So, what are you guys up to this weekend?" He notices Rika raise an eyebrow at the question but they enter into the elevator once it arrives on the second floor.

"Just training I believe, why?" Rika asks him and he chuckles mentally. "Well, I thought a field trip was in order so I made arrangement for said trip. It seems that our mode of transportation will be arriving this Friday night, I hope that gives you guys enough time to pack enough stuff for an overnighter." He informs her and then can't help but frown as an idea struck him.

"What were you doing on the second floor? I didn't think you had business on the second floor today." He muses and it seems that Rika got a very light blush making itself known on the fiery Tamer's face. Rika wouldn't met his gaze either, he looks away from his friend, not sure what to do about any of this.

_This battle field is just too… alien for me. But from the looks of things, I'm not the only one unsure on how to proceed though._ He muses to himself in relief and with a touch of unease.

"I was looking for you." Rika admits softly and he grins to himself but acts like he hadn't heard that since he really didn't want to embarrass her. _It's good to know that you're willing to look for me._ He admits within his mind though he gives Rika a quick smile before turning away from her with his cheeks burning slightly.

-/-/-

Renamon just sighs as she studies the two humans getting out of the elevator. Her golden eyes flashing with amusement as Rika's hand grabs Takato's hand. She watches as the two teens gaze into each other's faces before they both glance away from each other with their faces being bright red in colour.

Takato chuffs slightly, startling Rika slightly though anyone other then her won't have noticed. Takato glances down the hall and Rika nods, she watches the pair walk towards the door leading into Takato and Guilmon's room. Her gaze is drawn to Rika and Takato's hands; they keep their hold on each other as they walk away from the elevators.

_I believe that Ryo and Terriermon owe me twenty dollars each._ The humanoid fox rookie Digimon muses privately to herself, thoroughly pleased that not only was Rika finally acting like a girl her age but also that Takato wasn't disencouraging Rika's attempts to get close to him. It seems that whatever crush Takato had for Jeri has long since vanished and now Takato's got a chance to move on, which means that Kenta and Jeri could finally admit their growing affections for each other without any guilt or worry.

She waits a few minutes before following the pair down the hall, keeping to the shadows to remain out of sight. Her thoughts then turn to what she'd like to do with the money she'll be getting from the pair, she knows that Rika's birthday's coming up... maybe use a bit of the money to get her partner and best friend a birthday gift?

_I wonder how much Impmon will get from Kazu and Kenta about Rika and Takato finally admitting that they like each other…_ Her thoughts turn to the Digimon who's capable of warp Digivolving to mega as she recounts which Tamer and Digimon made a bet with each other and how much they wagered as well as terms of said bet.

Her musings were cut short as Guilmon shots out of the room and tackles her. Her attempts of getting the heavier rookie off failed and she notices Rika smirking slightly at the sight of them. "Guilmon, why did you tackle Renamon?" Takato asks.

"Cause Terriermon told me that if I do so, he'd give me twenty cream puffs." The red Digimon answers cheerfully. She makes a mental note to get the bunny dog back for that as Guilmon moves to allow her to get off the floor. She shoots a glare at the green Digimon and Terriermon gulps slightly before backing away from the door frame.

"Guilmon, next Terriermon offers you buns in exchange for doing something like this; tell me before doing it, ok? I highly doubt Renamon enjoyed being tackled to the ground, in front of her partner no less." The goggle wearing teen and Guilmon's partner advices much to her relief.

"Ok, Takatomon." Guilmon chirps and then proceeds to enter back into the room with Rika following the virus Digimon inside. Takato glances questioningly at her and she straightens before entering into the room, Takato enters and shuts the door behind him.

"Henry and them aren't here yet, huh?" Takato asks and she glances around the room. "Naw, they've got some family stuff going on, though they'll pop in tomorrow morning to pick us up though." Terriermon says and Takato shrugs. "Oh? All well, I guess I'll have to make sure I'm up when they stop by then." Takato says thoughtfully before sinking down into the couch, she settles down on the same couch as Rika with Guilmon joining his partner on the couch.

Calumon and Impmon both seem to have fallen asleep on one of the chairs, them sharing the same chair. Guardromon is sitting on the floor while MarineAngemon is sitting on the back of Calumon and Impmon's chair. Monodramon's on the other chair, she notes that it seems that Ryo's partner was in the process of nodding off, which makes her wonder if that game of tag they had been playing earlier had depleted much of their energy, though Guilmon and Terriermon don't seem to be affected by it, but then, those two always seem to have a few extra set of energy stores.

"So, what kind of field trip are we going on?" Rika asks as a commercial appears, that pipes her interest. "Not telling until everyone's around to hear it, I only want to explain it once after all." The goggle wearing Tamer answers, it's not long before Terriermon joins with Rika in trying to get Takato to spill the beans, though it seems that Takato seems to know how to avoid the word traps that the two set up.

After about an hour of this, the green Digimon and her Tamer finally give up trying to get any information out of the goggle wearing Tamer, she has to admit, she's highly impressed by the growth Takato displayed during that hour of needling by the two. It wasn't long before those Digimon that had fallen asleep wake with empty stomachs.

After a debate, they decided to order in a ton of Chinese food, by a ton she really does mean a ton. As she recalls there were about eight orders of sweet and sour chicken balls, ten large packages of stemmed rice, thirteen orders of ginger beef, fifteen orders of deep fried shrimp, three orders of deep fried calamari, two orders of curry chicken, an order B.B.Q. chicken chop sue, and eight orders of mushroom chow mein. She's not totally sure if that all they ordered but she knows she sampled those though.

She also notices that they have a bit left over but it's likely that over the course of tonight, it all will get eaten, even if Guilmon's the only one munching on it.

-/-/-

As he yawns, he can't help but notice that something's hugging him. As the reddish hazel eyed Tamer known as Takato Matsuki stretches, he's careful not to bump whoever, whatever is currently hugging him. He opens his right eye to view what's lying next to him and he freeze.

He then closes his eyes once more as he attempts to mediate in order to fight the growing panic growing within him. _Sakura blooms floating on the wind._ He thinks, summoning the picture to his mind before thinking of other calming scenes, like a lake, field of flowers, clouds slowly drifting in the sky, and other such things, making sure not think of people and Digimon.

"Takato?" Rika wonders softly, it seems that the partner of Renamon was now officially awake. "Takato!" Rika shouts as she fully wakes up, he notices the sudden coldness that's caused when Rika pulled herself away from his right side. He rolls his head over, highly glad that they're both clothed in what they wore when they fell asleep watching a late night movie.

"Terriermon…" Rika growls out and he sits up to look around the room for Henry's partner and Rika's current target. "Momentai, Momentai!" Is Terriermon's waking statement from his position on Guilmon's back, it's not long before Terriermon wakes up full in time to avoid the pillow that Rika threw at him.

"Oh? Oh! Ah oh!" Terriermon says as Rika rolls to the edge of the mattress to stand up. It's not long before Terriermon is being chased around the room with Rika hot on his heels.

The commotion begins to wake the other Digimon, though not Guilmon since his partner usually needs to be wakened by his stomach complaining its empty to having food mentioned. Calumon joins in the chase and after a few minutes of this, Impmon uses his Badda Boom attack to make them stop.

"Will ya quit that already? We're up, we're up already. Sheesh." Impmon growls out with his arms crossed over his chest with a well placed glare on his face. "Ah, but it was so much fun, Impmon! You should have joined in." Calumon answers and Impmon's hands go to his sides as the purple coloured Digimon shakes his head.

"You helped him, didn't you?" Rika asks the rookie and oddly enough, Impmon seems to gulp slightly at the look on Rika's face. "Well, in my defence, you guys looked cute together." Impmon remarks, he already knew that wasn't the right answer and it seems that Impmon knew that a second too late as the little guy's now nursing a lump on his head and Rika's already glancing at her partner.

"I fell asleep about the same time you did." Renamon states and Rika believed her so one by one, Rika glances at each of the Digimon that were with them and they each gave their reasons for either aiding in the prank or their excuses as why they didn't stop it.

In the end, only Guilmon remains the only unquestioned Digimon since he's fast asleep. He finds himself highly amused by Calumon and Monodramon's answers in the end, but then, he hasn't hung out with Calumon for very long and he doesn't really know Monodramon that well, so he just kept himself out of Rika the High Inquisitor's way.

In the end, Rika just shakes her head and glares at most of the rooms occupants. Finally Rika glances in his direction, he's still slightly puzzled as to what just happened but he's more then glad that he's not the focal point of Rika's anger. "You want to add anything?" Rika asks him and he shakes his head before replying, "You kind of covered it, I believe."

Rika gives a sharp nod before sure spins around on her heel and heads towards the phone, most likely to phone her mom and grandmother to keep her from worrying about her. "So, did you like it?" Terriermon asks from his position to his left. He gives the rookie a dry look before he rolls to the edge of the mattress before standing up.

"It's a simple question, sheesh." Terriermon states as the Digimon sits down in a huff with his arms crossed. He can't help but shake his head at this reaction, wondering if Terriermon had always been this bold. "That's none of your business, Terriermon." He counters, shooting the green Digimon a look of disapproval.

He notices Rika glancing his way and then glanced over towards Terriermon, he suddenly wonders if she's on the phone with Henry instead of with one of her parental figures. It's not long before a slight grin grows on the red head's face did he realise that he's second guess most likely wins out. He glances towards Terriermon as he walks to where Guilmon's lying to wake the red Digimon up.

"Guilmon… Breakfast!" He whispers to his partner, which did it as the red Digimon shots up in alarm. "Food? Where?" Guilmon asks after sniffing the air. "In the kitchen that's on the main floor." He states and Guilmon gives him a sorrowful look. "I think there might be some ginger beef left if you're that impatient." He says with a sigh and it's not long before Guilmon does locate the leftovers within the fridge, it seems that none of the Digimon touched it once he put it in there.

He walks over to where Rika is and waits until she covers the mouth piece with her hand and asks, "Yea?" "Mind if I use the shower now or did you plan on using it after you're done?" He asks and Rika shrugs as she replies in a distracted tone, "Go for it." He nods before heading off to pick a new outfit to wear today before heading into the washroom to strip.

-/-/-

The partner of Renamon, nick named the Digi Queen, Rika Nonaka tries to pay attention to what her math teacher is teaching but in view of the news that Takato had told them earlier today, she just couldn't be bothered and it's been like this all day though it grew worse as the day wore on. She copies what the teacher's writing on the black board until he stops and once more finds herself caught up in her thoughts.

_I can't believe we're going back to the Digital world again. Not only back there but to a place where few Digimon have seen too boot. I wonder how Takato arranged that, sure Takato's a member of their knight hood but how does that equal into allowing a group of human and Digimon into the head quarters? There's got to be more to this then Takato just being well connected._ She ponders to herself as she tries to think up reason why the leader of the Royal Knights, Alphamon, would grant Takato's request.

She jerks out of her thoughts as the final bell rings and she begins to shove her stuff into her book bag. Instead of heading back to Hypnos head quarters, she heads home though she does watch as Ryo and Cyberdramon fly off, the other Tamer had most likely got a call from Yamaki about an attack, its likely that Takato and Guilmon were off dealing with another group in a different direction.

She reflects on how things have changed since Takato, Dobermon, and Guilmon have arrived, like how they now have safe breathing space to actually do their home work. She does miss the slight rush that such battles invoke but in the end, it's keeping her mother from going premature grey and taking stress off of her grandmother, she's knows her grandmother isn't as young as she once was but she really didn't want her grandmother to get a stroke from worrying about Renamon and her.

She arrives home; she calls out a greeting to her grandmother who's likely in the kitchen getting dinner ready. Once her runners are off and drops her book bag on the ground, she heads straight to the bathroom to fill the furo before heading to her room to stripe. She heads back in with a towel wrapped around her body just in case visitors drop by.

The fiery haired Tamer snorts as she recalls the first and last time Henry and the others dropped by just as she was on her way into the bathroom to bath. It was a few days after her thirteenth birthday and they did just survive a rather violent encounter with some primitive agents, weaker then the ones that the D-Reaper created when it was feeding off of Jeri but had the advantage of numbers though.

She had headed straight home from school, not bothering to talk with any of the Tamers, she was just focused on getting home and relaxing in the furo. Apparently, the others were concerned about this and had decided to drop by to make sure she was ok. She can't help the satisfied smirk that made its way onto her face as she recalls their reactions.

Henry looked slightly horrified about it and had quickly turned away, he even managed to grab Terriermon to keep the rookie from staring at her, but then, Henry does have a bunch of sisters so it's likely not the first time he's seen a girl naked, just the first that's not related to him. Ryo tried to mimic Henry's action but couldn't bring himself to totally turn his back on her, though Ryo was sporting a nice shade of red on his face. Kazu and Kenta were totally shell shocked on seeing her naked, so much so that Jeri had to slap them upside the head three times before they would turn and glare at her. Jeri also slapped Ryo upside the head and literally had to push the guys back out into the garden and close the rice paper door to keep the majority of the guys from staring at her in her naked glory.

An image of a naked Takato enters her mind, causing her to blush bright red as she recalls that scene that occurred not too long ago. She hasn't yet mentioned to anyone, well, Henry might have guessed, that she had seen Takato in his birthday suit. She could only imagine how embarrassed Takato would be if he were to find out…


	9. Chapter 9

**History of a Royal Knight**

I don't own Digimon

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Thoughts_

"Talking"

-/-/- Scene change

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Chapter 9

As the ship finishes phasing through the final barrier, the Tamers and their partners gasp in surprise, though Takato Matsuki only smiles at their reactions since, to him, this was home. "It's so… computery." Terriermon states and the others agreed.

"Hey, there's a welcoming committee waiting for us!" Kazu says in an excited voice. "You see the one in black and gold armour? That's Alphamon." He informs them. "Who's pinky?" Rika asks and he answers, "That's Crusadermon, the one beside with bat like wings is Dynasmon,"

"Ok, so who's that black and white armoured Digimon with white wings who's arguing with Magnamon?" Henry asks and he can't help but chuckle as he watches the pair. "That's Duftmon and the one who's hushing them is Alforce V-dramon." He says with a slight grin on his face as the two arguing Digimon glare at Alforce V-dramon before they compose themselves, it seems that the order is trying to display a united front since they know that there are other people accompanying him.

"I wonder if they have a snack ready." Guilmon muses wistfully and he shakes his head, though he knows that Guilmon is a bit of a walking stomach and wasn't all surprised that his partner does most of his thinking with it either. "Since this is a special occasion, they probably do, though I doubt that they'll be joining us though." He admits but before Kazu, Henry, Rika, or any of the other Digimon could ask him about what he meant, the ship lands about ten feet from the welcoming committee.

Has he turns from the screen, he takes a few steps before glancing behind him towards those Tamers that accompanied him here. "Coming?" He asks and Guilmon begins to shadow him as he turns away from them and heads to where the ramp was likely descending.

Though he felt slightly nervous about appearing before the order as Takato Matsuki instead of Gallantmon, but in the end, it was too late to do anything about it now as he walks slowly down the ramp with Guilmon walking less then a foot to his right. As he draws closer to the group, he can't help but think of those comrades of four years as being tall, so tall that they seem to be imitating to him just by standing there, he wonders if this was how Rika felt when he arrived in the real world for the first time in four years as Gallantmon.

He waits at the bottom for Kazu, Henry, Rika, and their partner Digimon. He watches as Guilmon sniffs the air as he turns slightly to watch as the other Tamers and their partner Digimon descend down the ramp. Kazu and his partner Guardromon appear quickly enough, Kazu even seems to be strutting down the ramp with Henry carrying Terriermon and Rika followed by Renamon walking behind the visor wearing Tamer.

He nods to himself before turning to view the group of Royal Knights, he firmly puts down any nervousness within him as he addresses Alphamon and the other Royal Knights, "Been a while, huh?"

Alphamon takes a step forward before replying, "It's good to see you've found yourself, Takato and I want you to know that you and your partner, Guilmon, are always welcome among us and have a place among us." Then the overall commander of the Royal Knights addresses those Tamers and their partners that accompanied Guilmon and him, "I welcome you and your partners to our strong hold. I hope your stay here will be an enjoyable time, though I hope you understand that we wish that you would keep silent about what you find here, you never know what overhears such conversations."

As Henry and the others nod in agreement and then in a rush, Magnamon and Duftmon managed to herd Guilmon and himself away from the Tamers as the two remaining Royal Knights take charge of the Tamers and their partners, likely going to give them a quick tour of the hold before taking them to the holo gym so they can practice their Bio Merging as well as for some battle practice in their mega form.

"So, tell us all about how you two got fused together and how you managed to unmerge as well!" Magnamon asks and he chuckles softly to himself before he begins to steer the pair to one of the rest rooms that's closest to their location as he collects his thoughts, wondering where to begin his tale.

-/-/-

Rika watches as the armour level Digimon and the black and white armoured Digimon herd Guilmon and Takato away from the ship as Alphamon heads off to deal with tasks that needed his attention, leaving them to the mercies of the last two knights, Crusadermon and Dynasmon. The pair studied them for a few seconds before beckoning them to follow as the pair introduces themselves.

"I am Dynasmon and this is Crusadermon." The leather winged mega level Digimon says and before either Henry or she could respond, Kazu introduces them, "I'm Kazu, that big lump of metal is Guardromon, my partner. The fiery red head is Rika and her partner is Renamon and finally that's Henry and his loud mouth partner, Terriermon."

The pink armoured mega nods and within minutes they were within the keep. "First, we'll show you to your rooms so you can drop your stuff off in there before we show you around. Before we start training in the holo gym, you'll have a chance to have a meal." Crusadermon says as they walk through an oddly decorated hall, from the size of the keep she could tell that it's made for tall mega level Digimon; she couldn't help but feel small in comparison as they followed the two knights.

They came to a tube with a circle pattern on the floor. Dynasmon steps into the open part of the tube and says, "Second floor." The circle pattern begins to glow and then in a bright flash, the leather winged mega Digimon named Dynasmon was no longer in the tube. "Talk about a flashy exit." Terriermon comments, as if finally finding his voice.

"Quite." Crusadermon comments with an underline of dry humour. Henry and herself share looks and she gives the visor wearing Tamer a slight push in the direction of tube opening. "The honour is all your's Kazu, all your's." She informs the teen and Henry nods in agreement.

Kazu huffs but stalks into the tube opening. "Second floor." Kazu says in a gruff voice and it's not long before the rest of the group mimic Dynasmon and Kazu. Once on the second floor, they didn't have far to go, it seems that the second floor was where all of the living quarters were.

"When Yggdrasil created this place, it hadn't known what kinds of Digimon that would sign up under it and so created a lot of different kinds of rooms. As Digimon failed or just couldn't stand it, the list of Digimon serving under it began to shorten and so did the number of different rooms types." Dynasmon says and then adds as one of the room doors slide open, "It's not uncommon for us to… migrate rooms every so often. Sometimes… things get to be too much, I'm sure you get what I'm saying."

She recalls plenty of alterations in decoration in her own room and can't help but nod her head in agreement. A peg of envy surges within her for a second about how they could move out when things get too…. She shakes her head and after a game of rock, paper, scissors in which Henry wins the first room, they move across the way to another room.

After two games, she wins the second room, leaving Kazu to use the third room that Crusadermon and Dynasmon. Once Renamon and her took a look about the room, she perks on noticing the large furo and a separate spot where one could shower. She can't help but be highly impressed by how comfortable the room was. She drops off her knap sack by the bed and follows Renamon out of the room.

It was a few more minutes until Kazu joined Guardromon and them out in the hall; it seems that Kazu spent some time looking through the dresser drawers and even the closest. She sighs as Kazu comes out of the room exclaiming, "I love it here! Did you see the size of the furos here? It's like having your own hot tube!"

She glances at the visor wearing Tamer before glancing in Henry's direction. With a shrug from Henry, Crusadermon motions them to follow them back to the elevator tube so they can head to the kitchen or whatever to grab a snack before heading to the holo gym to see if it's easier Bio Merging here in the Digital World then when they were in the real world.

Her thoughts go back to that bit of advice that Takato gave them when they started. _It's all about truly __wanting__ to __**fight**__ with your partner, to be right in the thick of things at your partner's side._

-/-/-

"Lightning Joust!" Their dual voice shout as they launch themselves at Alphamon. Alphamon rolls on his heels and his fist lands on their shield. Their right arm feels a bit numb from the impact.

_He's strong._ Guilmon says and Takato nods with a slight smile on his face. _You should see him when he's welding Ultimate War Blade King Dragon; I'm always stunned at how easily he could battle with such a bulky weapon._ He answers as they leap back, away from the unarmed mega Digimon, one he considers to be the younger brother he never had.

As they land, Alphamon charges them and it's their turn to go on the defensive. After a few seconds, they slam their shield into Alphamon's chest and use the broad side of the lance to hit Alphamon in the back of the head as they twist on the balls of their feet, coming out behind the black armoured Digimon. Before they regain their balance, Alphamon is attacking once more, only this time; feathers were coming out of their protective casing.

_He has wings?_ Guilmon asks in alarm and he shrugs as he answers. _Yea, he does. Though I don't know why though, he just evolved that way._ Alphamon manages to knock their shield away as the straps holding it to their arm snapped after taking one too many hits to the sides of the shield.

They manage to catch Alphamon's next punch and they did away with their lance as well so they can fight with their fists. Without the shield to get in their way, they can now use their legs to land blows as well. Unlike them, Alphamon's armour is much more bulky then theirs and was designed to take more of a beating then their armour, which is why Alphamon hadn't resorted to adding a few kicks into the mix.

"Can't you guys fight better then that?" Kazu shouts but they ignore their friend as he begins to explain what he has in mind with Guilmon as they trade blows with Alphamon, he knows that unarmed combat was Alphamon's speciality while theirs lay in using lances and shields. He can't help but find it odd not to be in total control of Gallantmon but then, he knows that they need to practice fighting as one instead of just one of them in the pilot seat and the other one the passenger.

That's likely what Alphamon has in mind, to get them to work in sync with each other. True, they've done well against the D-Reaper but they could have done better. He knows that before they leave tomorrow, they're likely to spar once more with another member of the Royal Knights; he's willing to lay good odds that it'll be either Duftmon or even Alforce V-dramon, or, in an off chance, maybe both Dynasmon and Crusadermon.

_Dam it, focus! This isn't the time to be day dreaming, Takato. What happens tomorrow will happen tomorrow, right now, we have a fight to win._ He curses to himself as they receive a hit in their helmet. He clears his mind as best as he can of any thoughts that don't relate to the here and now.

_Now, Takatomon?_ Guilmon asks and he nods within his sphere. _Now Guilmon._ They twirled their cape and vanish from view; all those present can see their red cape fluttering away. He grins to himself, this trick was something he never taught to Alphamon and once Alphamon is right under them…

"Lightning Punch!" They shout in their dual voice and around their right fist, the usual blue lightning dances around the metal surface. They were getting damage from the attack since they're suppose to be using their lance, but he's been known to imprecise and he knows that it's worth it just to see that look of surprised in Alphamon's eyes as they descending down on him.

By the time Alphamon recovers from his shock, it was too late for the black armoured knight to do much other then block the attack. When their fist connects with Alphamon's shoulder, Alphamon managed to shift ever so slightly to minimize the damage the attack is likely to do.

"Arg!" Alphamon grunts in pain as they hiss, as they land on their feet, the lightning surges and causes a large flash to engulf the two of them. As their view returns, he finds that they're currently slouched by a wall and since Guilmon's hasn't recovered, he looks to the far wall and notices that Alphamon was also slouching by the opposite wall.

It was then did he realize how injured they were from that lightning attack. "Mental note, we're reserving that one for desperate measures." He mutters out loud, he feels Guilmon agree with him as Magnamon declares the match a draw.

"Takato!" Henry shouts out as the Tamers plus Alforce V-dramon charge towards him as Duftmon and Dynasmon shout out as they lead the other knights towards Alphamon. "Alphamon!"

He's still in the driver seat, in a manner of speaking, so he's the one feeling the full blunt of their injuries, which he believes he deserves to feel since it was his plan that had lead to their current condition. "You know standard procedure." Alforce V-dramon states as the blue mega activates the med scan, he sighs but fights the impulse to move onto his side or to get into a more comfortable position.

This wasn't the first time it decided to alter an attack, just the first time that such an attack was successful. "Well, I'd say a dip in the liquid data pockets will do the two of you some good. So, did you want to do it as Gallantmon or as your individual selves?" Alforce V-dramon asks and he waits for Guilmon's opinion on this.

"We'll stay like this, we need to grow… accustom to working together." Which kind of translates that he needed to get use to having Guilmon's conscious while they're Gallantmon. Alforce V-dramon helps them stand up, they lean heavily on the blue coloured knight, he knows that Guilmon's slightly surprised at how much pain they were in but he tries not to wrestle control from his partner.

A quick look across the way shows that Alphamon was also having some help to the medical ward. From the looks of things, Duftmon was sent ahead to have the tanks ready for them. They glance down at the Tamers and a slight peg of guilt hits him when he notices the worried look on Rika's face.

Alforce V-dramon pauses for a moment, asking them to remain behind. He didn't pay too much attention to what's going on around him as he's now fighting to remain conscious. _Takatomon… when we're done, you think we can have dinner?_ Guilmon asks him in a worried tone.

He sighs but couldn't help but smile at that. _I'm sure they'll have something for us to eat._ He answers and they're once more moving to the medical ward, it's a good thing that it's on the same level as the holo gym, he couldn't imagine how long it would take otherwise take to get them to the medical wing…

-/-/-

Henry Wong sighs as he tries to sink into the highly comfortable mattress. He can already hear his partner's snores coming from his left side. He stares up at the ceiling as his mind refuses to allow his exhaustion to over take him.

His thoughts circulate around the spar between Gallantmon and Alphamon. He replays the final attack that Gallantmon had done; he still can't help but wonder how it was that Takato and Guilmon manage that vanishing act before that attempt at an alternate usage of Lightning Joust. He can still see the battered forms of both mega knight Digimon, his stomach still goes cold whenever he sees the two in his mind's eye.

_I wonder how Takato and Guilmon will react to their next sparring partner…_ He muses after a while. A slight ghost of a smile appears on his face as his eyes droop; sleep finally over coming his mind. _Well, it'll definitely be a very interesting day tomorrow, hope that Takato's up for it._ Was his last thought as he finally allows himself to fall into the blackness of his mind.


	10. Chapter 10

**History of a Royal Knight**

I don't own Digimon

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Thoughts_

"Talking"

-/-/- Scene change

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Chapter 10

Takato Matsuki sighs for the tenth time since he woke up to find not just Guilmon resting on top of him, but also the purple furred dragon beast known as Dorumon as well. Guilmon's covering his chest area while Dorumon's covering his legs and feet, the purple furred rookie's tail is covering most of Dorumon's head, making it hard for him to pick out the red mark that's on the rookie's head.

But then, it might just be his angle of sight that's keeping him from getting a good look at Dorumon's head since he can barely raise his head up for more then a few inches. In the end, he had stopped trying to roll out from under them, it being kind of impossible since Guilmon's on his right with Dorumon on his left, kind of boxing him in or ever strapping him to the bed with their weight.

_I wonder how long he's been able to go back and forth between forms._ He muses as he stares up at the ceiling over his bed. His sleeping in the room he had previously used as Gallantmon, which makes the bed huge although the pillows had been replaced with smaller ones for him to use.

A soft smile appears on his face as he recalls the first time he laid eyes on Dorumon, though most of the knights back then most likely recalled it, well, those that have survived at any rate, which are namely Alforce V-dramon and Omnimon. Although to be fair, they really didn't know just what kind of Digimon would come from the egg that Yggdrasil showed them about a few days after Imperialdramon FM had been deleted...

-/-/-

It had been a long month since they lost Imperialdramon FM and since then, they're now taking orders from Omnimon, since he won by a land slide in the voting polls. Privately, he's glad that nobody submitted his name for the position since he doubts his ability to lead Digimon in battle since he's still trying to define who he is and what he wants out of life if he some how manages to survive this war with the D-Reaper, or as some of the Digimon have called it, Chaos.

"So, what do you think of our new commander?" Alforce V-dramon asks him as the assembled Digimon roar their approval at the plan that Omnimon has laid out for the latest attack on the D-Reaper, giving the local Digimon a chance to flee to one of the new worlds that Yggdrasil was in the process of creating.

"Better him then me." He states in an amused tone and the blue mega chuckles softly. "True, but then, nobody submitted your name, now did they?" Alforce V-dramon muses and he shrugs.

"I don't have the experience and I likely lack the instinct for the job too." He counters and on hearing that, Alforce V-dramon chuckles bit harder then before. "That's not what those under you say." Alforce V-dramon states in a bemuse tone.

"You don't give yourself enough credit, you know." Alforce V-dramon adds after a few seconds. He couldn't help but flush in embarrassment at the praise he's receiving from the blue draconian mega Digimon.

Before he could reply to that, a beeping sound fills the air, and everyone quiets down as they glance towards the forming platform. Within seconds a Digi-Egg appears on top of the platform and after a minute, the platform and egg float to the table by Omnimon. He can't help but wonder with the rest of the Digimon gathered, what's up with that Digi-Egg. It didn't help that within seconds some Digi-Gnomes had appeared and were hovering around the purple striped egg.

"One of our number is gone, but in time, we will have a new member to replace him." Omnimon states, though pauses as if to gather his thoughts. "Yggdrasil has altered a line of code within this Digi-Egg. A line of code that he hopes will allow the Digimon growing within this egg a better chance to survive in battle against our greatest enemy, the D-Reaper."

On hearing that, a buzz seems to erupt from the crowd of Digimon gathered. He himself can't help but frown as he hears the words 'monstrous', 'unnatural', and of course, 'freak.' He felt very uneasy on hearing those names, though he can't really say why though…

"I wonder what Yggdrasil was thinking when he sent the egg here." Alforce V-dramon wonders and he couldn't really add anything, so he kept silent though he felt an odd numbness descend within him.

-/-/-

He blinks a few times as he dismisses the image of that crowd of Digimon murmuring dark things about an innocent egg. It was an image that had come back to haunt him when he had nightmares. Of the cries of Digimon that were calling him a freak, someone who shouldn't exist to begin with, etc.

As if responding to his need to break out of that line of thought, Dorumon stirred and moves his purple furred head as he yawns in a highly cute manner. The teen smiles as he watches the commander of the Royal Knights rub his eyes to get rid of the grit from his eyes. As the rookie notices his interest and amusement, Dorumon looks slightly sheepish and he chuckles softly to himself, his reddish hazel eyes sparkling in silent laughter.

Then before either of them says a word, a large rumble comes from his partner, Guilmon. "Wakie, wakie, sleepy head, you're stomach is growling." He says as he gently slaps his partner Digimon on the neck.

"Breakfast is ready?" Guilmon asks without opening his eyes. Dorumon replies, "More then likely, hope you like waffles." Guilmon stirs enough to take a peek at Dorumon.

"You smell familiar." Guilmon chirps then the crimson rookie yawns, his head moves off of his chest so he can sit up in the bed. He crosses his legs as Guilmon studies Dorumon with unveiled interest.

"This is Dorumon, the rookie form of Alphamon." The yellow goggle wearing teen says after a few minutes. Dorumon hums in agreement and Guilmon grins before Guilmon asks, "Can we eat now?"

He snorts when Dorumon's stomach rumbles at the same time as Guilmon's. Dorumon's fore-claws go to his furry mid-section while Guilmon just pats his scaled mid-section. "Come on, you two. We can visit as we eat breakfast." He says and then rolls to the left side of the bed, the side that's closest to where they were lying.

-/-/-

As Rika enters into the smallest dining hall, she blinks as she notices that not only has Takato and Guilmon already eating, but were joined by a strange purple Digimon that's roughly the same size as the crimson rookie known as Guilmon. "Ok, who's that?" She wonders and takes out her D-Ark as Renamon appears behind her.

**Dorumon**

Level: rookie

Attribute: vaccine

Beast type. Attacks are Metal Cannon and Dash Metal.

The hologram of Dorumon vanishes and she re-clips her Digivice. "I think that might be Alphamon." Renamon muses softly and Rika casually glances at her partner.

"What makes you say that?" She asks before beginning to slowly walk towards the table. "Well, for one thing, both Alphamon and Gallantmon used a great deal of energy in their sparring match yesterday and it's not uncommon for some mega types to have control of their Digital evolution. I believe a few of these Royal Knights have that ability so it wouldn't surprise me if their commander would as well." Renamon explains and Rika shrugs slightly, it's been over four years since they've encountered unpartnered Digimon, let alone interact with them in a way that didn't end with the Bio Emerged Digimon to be deleted.

"Hey, Rika, Renamon. This is Dorumon, the rookie from of Alphamon." Takato says on seeing them approach. The purple coloured rookie looks up from his plate and both Renamon and herself noted the red mark on Dorumon's head, the same one that Alphamon has on his helmet.

The rookie grins at them before returning his gaze to his plate just in time to watch Guilmon's left paw make off with one of the waffles from his plate. "You really don't need to steal from my plate, you know. You just have to hit that button to have your plate refilled." Dorumon states but Guilmon waves that off with a grin.

"We're friends, so it's ok to share." Guilmon states before stealing some fruit slices from Takato's plate as the goggle wearing teen looks on with a bemused expression. She takes the seat next to Takato, a little blush on her cheeks and Renamon settles on the chair next to her.

"So, how does this work?" The red head Tamer inquires and Takato explains it as Guilmon's plate seems to become covered in fog. When the fog cleared, Guilmon's plate was filled once more with all manner of breakfast items.

"It's kind of rare for us to have enough time to enjoy our meals. Usually there's one crises after another, so when we get the chance to sit down and actually taste what our meal, we did something similar to how we teleport from one floor to another." Takato tells them, she gathers that he's also referring to not just Alphamon and himself, but to the rest of the Royal Knights.

"We use to take turns cooking large quantities of food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yggdrasil provided the cook books and how we get what we need by bartering or they'd donate a portion of their crops to us as payment for a future service like helping them expand their farms or for providing battle training." Takato muses before picking over his plate, allowing Renamon and herself a chance to pick out what they would like for breakfast.

She mimics what Takato has on his plate, waffles with some bacon and hash browns. Though she decides to have her eggs scrambled instead of over easy, she asks for the syrup and Takato passes it to her once Guilmon finishes putting some syrup on top of this odd peanut butter topped apple. She couldn't take her eyes away from Guilmon as the crimson coloured rookie pops the apple into his mouth.

She manages to shake herself out of her musings and covers her waffles in syrup. She passes it to Renamon before she picks up her knife and fork. It wasn't long before Guilmon wants the syrup once more, this time the virus covers slices of oranges on top of a piece of toast that's covered in chocolate syrup with bits of sprinkles on top.

_How can he eat that?_ The red head Tamer wonders as Guilmon pops the toast into his mouth. Her food forgotten for a moment as she watches the crimson rookie demolishes the food on his plate.

"I suggest you try and ignore it, you'll save yourself a headache." Takato muses softly from her side. "But how can he stomach the taste…" She murmurs softly and the goggle wearing Tamer shrugs. "He just does. As long as he eats it, it's fine." Takato replies.

Finally, the red head Tamer looks away from watching Guilmon eat to work on what's on her own plate. Just as she finishes the food that's on her plate, Kazu shows up with Magnamon while his partner Guardromon arrives in the company of Alforce V-dramon.

The two Royal Knights don't seem all that surprise to see Alphamon in his rookie form, though they didn't stay long since the two of them had to head out for a scouting mission, it's likely that they won't be seeing the pair again since they'll be arriving back after they, the Tamers, leave to return to the real world. Takato bid them a hearty farewell while Guilmon waves a hand as they leave, calling out a cheerful, 'bye bye!'

Once Kazu sat down and had been explained how to order breakfast, the visor wearing Tamer began a conversation at the table, though it was more of Kazu talking practically non-stop while they either nodded in agreement or make some kind of sound.

For seconds, she decided to have fruit instead of more waffles with scrambled egg with some bacon and hash browns. As she finishes off the strawberries, Henry with Terriermon arrived into the dinning hall with Dynasmon and Crusadermon showing up a few minutes later, once Henry and Terriermon have settled down and were working on their first plate.

Without saying a word, Dorumon gets up and about within ten feet of the door, the furry rookie becomes cocooned in a ball of light and once the light vanishes, Alphamon stood in the purple rookie's place. She watches as Alphamon leaves in the pair's company, she then turns to glance at Takato while the goggle wearing Tamers was studying Henry. She glances over to Henry and found that Henry was a little too focused on his plate.

As she glances between the two, Kazu voices the question that's on her mind. "Ok, what's going on Henry?"

-/-/-

"Ok, what's going on Henry?" Kazu says and for the life of him, he couldn't find the words to reply to Kazu's inquiry. It wasn't every day that a group of Digimon ask him to engage in a sparring match, though what's troubling him was the fact that they're asking him to spar with a fellow Tamer and someone who he's still mending their friendship with.

He found he couldn't look at Takato; he didn't want to see what kind of expression the goggle wearing Tamer is wearing. He beats himself up over the fact that he agreed to be Takato's opponent for this final sparring match in the Digital world. He's just glad that Terriermon wasn't trying to cheer him up.

"Leave him alone, Kazu. You'll likely to find out what's going on soon enough, right Henry?" Takato says and he glances briefly at the goggle wearing teen.

He meets Takato's steady gaze and didn't find the hint of betrayal in his friend's reddish hazel eyes. Just looking at Takato calmed his nerves and a slight look of relief settles on his face before he looks away, back to what he has on his plate. His spirits lighten considerably as he begins to dig into the good food that's on his plate.

"See Henry, Momentai." Terriermon states before the smallish rookie makes a beeline to where Dorumon had been sitting to go visit with Guilmon. Henry watches how care free the pair chatted, as if the last four years never happened. A slight smile remains throughout the rest of breakfast as some of the tightness he'd been feeling seems to fade slightly.

-/-/-

_This is not good._ It was a thought that's been hovering in the fore front of his mind since Takato and the others that went with him into the Digital world as he staring out at the D-Reaper from the head quarters of Hypno for the last four years. Sure, it's only been about a day since they've left and that they'll be returning sometime today but the little child looking Digimon known as Impmon can't shake the feeling that something big was about to go down and it's driving him crazy not knowing what that is.

"Impmon, are we going to the pool or not?" Calumon asks as the Digimon often times referred to Cream Puff, comes zooming into the room. He waves the emerald eyed Digimon away as he tries to tone out everything but his own thoughts.

_They better make it back or I'll figure out how to resurrect them just so I can kill them._ He muses to himself before he finds himself falling off the table when Calumon shouts, "IMPMON!" Right into one of his ears, he use one of his fingers to try and clear out his ear as his head rings from Calumon shout.

"Calumon, you know I like you and everything, right?" The purple rookie says slowly at the white in training Digimon who's hovering about a foot off the floor. "Yea, I know." Calumon says, cocking his head cutely to the side as emerald eyes blink innocently at him.

"Good, now…" He trails off as light engulfs his body. "I'll give ya to the count of twenty before I cause your ears to right, got it?" He says as Beelzemon and Calumon cries out, "Jerrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

With a smirk on his face, he watches the white Digimon bolt out of the room. A slight grin replaces that smirk and then a frown grows from that expression, he glances out to where the great mass known as the D-Reaper was. With a sigh, he once more becomes Impmon before he heads off to find something to take his mind off of his grim thoughts.

"Just come home to us, we're waiting." He muses and then as he exits out of the room, he muses to himself, "Geeze, when did I grow to be sentimental? Ah well, might as well see what the Cream Puff wants to do at the pool…"

He doesn't doubt that by now, Calumon has most likely forgotten the fact that he wanted to get back at him for yelling in his ears, so he's not too worried about encountering Jeri or his Tamer, Ai and Mako.

-/-/-

_Are you up for this, boy?_ He wonders from within his crimson coloured sphere within their merged form of Gallantmon. He feels Guilmon's sureness surge through the blackness surrounding him. _I'm ready, Takato._ Takato Matsuki, partner to Guilmon, one of the first three humans to become Tamers, and finally, a member of Yggdrasil's Royal Knights grins as together with Guilmon, they position their shared body into a common defensive stance as they faced off against one of their most largest opponents yet, Henry and Terriermon in their merged mega form of MegaGargomon.

"We're ready." They say together. "So are we." MegaGargomon says in their dual voice. "Then begin!" Alphamon says and with that, they leap into the air…


End file.
